Abstract
The neutron yield for compact accelerator driven neutron sources depends on the target material, the ion type and its energy. When such sources are operated with low energy proton beams below 30 MeV, typical target materials are lithium and beryllium. New developments indicate that higher energies or a deuteron beam might be useful to increase the neutron yield at constant accelerator power. Here we present the total neutron yield analytically calculated for protons and deuterons at energies up to 100 MeV for various target materials. The total neutron yield depends on the involved cross sections and the stopping power of the target material. This study shows that for energies lower than 30 MeV light target materials with a deuteron beam are preferable whereas for energies above 30 MeV heavy target materials show a high neutron yield with little difference for a proton or deuteron beam.
Highlights
Today, neutron scattering and neutron analytical methods e.g. prompt gamma activation analysis or imaging, are mostly operated at fission or spallation neutron sources
The recent shutdown of several research reactors in Europe leads to a corresponding reduction in neutron beam days [4]. Projects such as SONATE [5] in France and the HighBrilliance neutron Source project (HBS) [6, 7] in Germany work on the development of high-power Compact Accelerator-driven Neutron Sources (CANS) to counter act the reduction in beam days
As all existing CANS are mostly operated with a proton beam at similar energies (3 – 13 MeV), they use either a beryllium or a lithium target, in order to maximize the neutron yield at these energies [8, 9, 10]
Summary
Neutron scattering and neutron analytical methods e.g. prompt gamma activation analysis or imaging, are mostly operated at fission or spallation neutron sources. As all existing CANS are mostly operated with a proton beam at similar energies (3 – 13 MeV), they use either a beryllium or a lithium target, in order to maximize the neutron yield at these energies [8, 9, 10]. As the ion current is limited to 100 - 200 mA with accelerator technologies currently existing, an increase in energy is inevitable This leads to other target materials than beryllium or lithium for an optimized neutron yield at ion energies above 30 MeV. In the following we will present a systematic study of the neutron yield depending on the target material and the energy of a proton or deuteron beam up to 100 MeV
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