Modern trends in the development of position sensitive neutron detectors for condensed matter research

Different types of neutron scattering experiment for the study of condensed matter properties pose specific and often contradictory requirements for detector characteristics. There is no single type of detector which satisfies all the criteria. Therefore, compromise is inevitable and some of the characteristics are trade off in favour of others. Present report gives an overview of detector systems presently operating at the leading neutron scattering facilities as well as some development work around the globe.      

Coded transmissions for space links affected by solar scintillation: Baseband analysis

A thorough analysis of the behavior of error‐correcting codes over space links affected by solar scintillation is presented. The relevant channel parameters are fixed through the development of a model based on real missions' data. Both telecommand and telemetry links are considered in fast and slow fading conditions. Besides classical coherent modulation schemes, the possibility to use noncoherent modulation schemes is considered, to eliminate the problem of phase tracking. For the case of channels with very slow fading, the use of external interleavers or erasure coding is proposed to cope with error bursts.     

四拉盖尔高斯光束在大气湍流中传输时的闪烁研究

采用相位屏法模拟仿真,对四拉盖尔高斯光束(Laguerre Gauss,LG)在大气湍流中传输时的闪烁性能进行了研究.结果表明:与单LG光束相比,四LG光束可以降低光传输中的闪烁指数;和外尺度相比,内尺度对光束闪烁指数的影响较大;光束的拓扑荷或者径向量子数越大,四LG光束的闪烁指数越大;当光束之间的距离取合适的值时,LG光束在大气湍流中的闪烁指数可取得最小值.     

磁扰和磁静期间南极McMurdo地区电离层闪烁统计特征的对比分析

利用南极McMurdo站（地理经纬度（166.73°E,77.88°S）,地磁纬度80°S）2011-2014年电离层闪烁观测数据,对比分析了磁扰和磁静期间电离层闪烁发生率的周日分布、季节分布,以及随太阳活动变化的统计特征.结果表明:磁扰和磁静期间电离层闪烁的周日分布均在磁中午附近和磁子夜后出现峰值,而磁扰期的闪烁发生率显著高于磁静期,并且闪烁发生范围向低纬和高纬方向扩展;春秋季电离层闪烁发生率明显高于夏冬季,每年的2、3月份和9、10月份高发,冬季6月份发生率最低;磁扰期的季节性特征比磁静期更为明显,且闪烁发生范围、发生频率均明显大于磁静期;太阳活动对电离层闪烁的影响十分显著,随着太阳活动的增强,闪烁发生的范围和发生频率均明显增大.该研究结果有助于了解极区电离层闪烁的整体分布情况,将为极区电离层闪烁建模以及闪烁预报提供支持,对极区通信、导航定位等有着重要的应用价值.     

A new plastic scintillation resin for single-step separation,concentration and measurement of technetium-99

Technetium is a synthetic element with no stable isotopes, produced as waste in nuclear power plants and in cyclotrons used for nuclear medicine. The element has high mobility, in the form of TcO₄⁻; its determination is therefore important for environmental protection. Technetium is found in low concentrations and therefore common methods for its analysis include long treatments in several steps and require large amounts of reagents for its purification and preconcentration. Plastic scintillation resins (PSresin) are novel materials used to separate, preconcentrate and measure radionuclides in a single step. The objective of this study is to prepare and characterise a PSresin for the preconcentration and measurement of ⁹⁹Tc. The study first evaluates the reproducibility of the production of PSresins between batches and over time; showing good reproducibility and storage stability. Next, we studied the effect of some common non-radioactive interferences, showing small influences on measurement, and radioactive interferences (³⁶Cl and ²³⁸U/²³⁴U). ³⁶Cl can be removed by a simple treatment with 0.5 M HCl and ²³⁸U/²³⁴U can be removed from the column by cleaning with a mixture of 0.1 M HNO₃ and 0.1 M HF. In the latter case, a slight change in the morphology of the PSresin caused an increase in detection efficiency. Finally, the PSresin was applied to the measurement of real spiked samples (sea water and urine) with deviations lower than 10% in all cases.     

Neutron light output function and resolution investigation of the deuterated organic liquid scintillator EJ-315

In this paper we investigate the light response to fast neutrons and estimate the pulse height resolution of a deuterated liquid organic scintillator, EJ-315, considering the detector's non-linear light response to gamma-rays. Initially, collision data and a neutron beam trigger are recorded in coincidence mode, and incident neutron energy is calculated with a time-of-flight technique. Fast neutrons are further discriminated from gamma-ray background based on the scintillation material decay patterns using a pulse shape discrimination algorithm. A light response matrix composed of multiple neutron energy and their corresponding light outputs is derived. The pulse height resolution property of the EJ-315 is characterized utilizing the derivatives of the pulse height distributions with corrections of the measurements setup uncertainties. Additionally, the EJ-315's pulse height resolution is also characterized by comparing the smoothed derivatives of quasi-monoenergetic neutron pulse height distributions, given by the Peierls-formula-based analytic model, to match the measurement data. Results show rather consistent 10–13% pulse resolution for mono-energetic neutrons with kinetic energy above 2 MeV. The resolution decreases slightly with an increase in neutron energy indicating the improved resolution performance of EJ-315 in the higher energy events.     

First approach to radionuclide mixtures quantification by using plastic scintillators. Influence of the diameter of the plastic beads

Recent studies have evaluated the capability of plastic scintillation (PS) as an alternative to liquid scintillation (LS) in radionuclide activity determination without mixed waste production. In order to complete the comparison, we now assess the extent to which PS can be used to quantify mixtures of radionuclides and the influence of the diameter of the plastic scintillation beads in detection efficiency.

The results show that the detection efficiency decreases and the spectrum shrink to lower energies when the size of the plastic scintillation beads increases, and that the lower the energy of the beta particle, the greater the variation takes place. Similar behaviour has been observed for beta–gamma and alpha emitters.

Two scenarios for the quantification of mixtures are considered, one including two radionuclides (¹⁴C and ⁶⁰Co) whose spectra do not overlap significantly, and the other including two radionuclides (¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y), where the spectra of one the isotopes is totally overlapped by the other The calculation has been performed by using the conventional window selection procedure and a new approach in which the selected windows correspond to those with lower quantification errors. Relative errors obtained using the proposed approach (less than 10%) are lower than those of the conventional procedure, even when a radionuclide is completely overlapped, except for those samples with extreme activity ratios that were not included in the window optimization process.     

激光大气闪烁的间歇特征

 以小波变换法观察了湍流大气中激光光强起伏的间歇特征, 并用奇性测度进行了定量的描述。根据间歇性参量的周日变化规律发现：激光大气闪烁的间歇性存在于所有的时间和起伏条件下,并且保持稳定,间歇性参量约为0.1,基本不随起伏条件和时间变化。     

同步测量大气湍流折射率结构常数和内尺度的光学方法

 基于不同波长的光闪烁,采用修正的大气湍流Hill谱模型,提出了一种同时反演大气湍流内尺度及折射率结构常数的方法。假定内尺度在某一个范围内取值,对于不同波长的闪烁指数,如果当内尺度取某一定值时,由光传输理论计算的C²_n(λ₁,…)和C²n (λ₂,…)相等,反演成功。根据此原理设计了三波长闪烁计并在某地进行了外场测量。近地面大气湍流的内尺度一般在2~10 mm之间,且随折射率结构常数（其量级为10^-16~10^-13）的变化而变化,两者之间存在一定的正相关;任意两波长组合进行反演得到的内尺度(或折射率结构常数)值具有自洽性,其相关系数的最小值为0.81,因此证明了该方法的可行性。