Cryogenic neutron detector comprising an InSb semiconductor detector and a supercritical helium-3 gas converter

摘要

We evaluated the neutron-detection characteristics of a proposed cryogenicneutrondetector comprising an InSbsemiconductordetector and a helium-3 gas converter. The neutrondetector was operated at 4.2 K with helium-3 gas filling up to 1.5 atm, at which the density of the helium-3 nucleus corresponds to that at 160 atm at room temperature. The secondary particles generated by the [3]He(n, p)Treaction were successfully detected by the InSbdetector with a time response of ∼80 ns at all tested gas pressures.