Gated Liquid Scintillator Detector For Neutron Time Of Flight Measurements In A Gas-Puff Z-Pinch Experiment

Detection of secondary D(t, n)He-4 neutrons produced when thin argon or krypton gas shells implode on a deuterium gas target is a very challenging task because the secondary neutron yield is a small fraction of the primary neutron yield and because the implosion is often accompanied by an intense hard X-ray burst. We built a large volume neutron time of flight (nTOF) detector using liquid scintillator (xylene solvent with small quantities of wavelength shifting PPO + bis-MSB fluors) in an attempt to increase the detection probability for secondary neutrons in our staged Z-pinch experiments at the 1 MA Zebra pulsed-power generator. Two fast, gated microchannel plate photomultiplier tubes detect the light created in 21 liters of liquid. The hard X-rays were successfully suppressed in the recorded nTOF traces, but we found no evidence of secondary neutrons. The signal quality from the primary D(d, n)He-3 neutrons was higher compared to the signal quality from a plastic scintillator nTOF, thus providing a more reliable estimate of the deuterium ion temperature at the pinch stagnation time. Cross-calibration with a silver activation detector enables standalone neutron yield measurement.