Abstract
Searching digitized detector signals for piled-up delayed components
with distinct energy and delay time signatures is a smart method to
provide common NaI(Tl) detectors with additional neutron detection
capabilities at no extra cost. This technique nicely complements the
idea of neutron detection by analyzing events with high energy
depositions above the range of common gamma-ray energies. In
combination, both approaches can provide half of the neutron sensitivity
offered by a commercial 6Li co-doped NaI(Tl) (NaIL™)
scintillator of the same size, at the price of higher and load-dependent
background contributions. Delayed-coincidence techniques are most
suitable for neutron monitoring or long-term measurements, where the
statistics of the acquired delay-time distributions allows separate
fitting of the effect and background contributions. In this case, the
thermal neutron flux can be quantified in parallel to gamma-ray
spectroscopy at overall detector loads exceeding 10 kcps.