Development of a single sphere neutron spectrometer using α-Al2O3:C based optically stimulated luminescence detectors

A multi-shell single sphere moderating assembly has been designed and developed to measure the neutron spectra in which the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) detector pairs (Al2O3:C + 6, 7LiF) were used. The response matrix of OSL detectors, covering 11 energy decades (from thermal to 100 MeV neutrons) at different depths of the sphere, was generated using FLUKA-Monte Carlo simulation. The testing and validation of the spectrometer was performed using 3 standard neutron sources, viz. 241AmBe, 252Cf and DT. Neutron spectra were generated using 2 different unfolding codes. The design of the moderating assembly has the flexibility of selecting the desired sphere size as per the end point energy of the neutron spectrum. This can be conveniently employed in the complex radiation environment around particle accelerators, where the time and the space for irradiations have limitations. The details of the spectrometer design, response matrix generation and unfolding results are presented here.