A proton-recoil neutron spectrometer for time-dependent ion temperatures on the National Ignition Facility

Summary form only given, as follows. Ion temperatures from inertial confinement fusion targets are usually determined by measuring the Doppler broadening of the neutron spectrum using the time-of-flight method. Measurement systems are generally designed so that the contribution of the duration of neutron production (/spl sim/100 ps) to the width of the neutron signal is negligible. This precludes the possibility of time-dependent ion temperature. If, however, one could measure the neutron energy and arrival time at a detector independently, then time-dependent neutron spectra could be obtained, and ion temperature information deduced. A concept utilizing a proton-recoil neutron spectrometer has been developed in which recoil protons from a small plastic foil ("radiator") are measured. From the energy, arrival time, and recoil Angle of the recoil proton, the birth time and energy of the incident neutron can be deduced. The sensitivity of the system is low, but the higher anticipated neutron yields from the proposed National Ignition Facility may make the technique feasible. Large scintillator arrays currently in use on the Nova facility for neutron spectral measurements consist of /spl sim/1000 channels and detect between 50 and 500 counts for typical time-integrated data. Time-dependent results would then require about an order of magnitude larger system. Key issues for making this system feasible will be keeping the cost per channel low while allowing adequate time (/spl sim/50 ps), energy (20 keV), and angular resolution (2 mrad) for each of the proton detectors.