Utilization of a BGO detector as an active oxygen target

Abstract

The (n, n'γx) cross section for the 6.13 MeV state in oxygen has recently become of general interest because of the possibility of using this process to assay oxygen as a part of non-intrusive inspections. Localized densities of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen are particularly useful in determining the presence of explosives and/or drugs in containers of all sizes, from suitcases to cargo containers. The presence of oxygen in BGO (Bi 4Ge 3O 12) scintillator makes this detector suitable for use as an active target for the measurement of the energy dependence of the excitation, of the first (6.049 MeV O +) and second (6.130 MeV 3 −) excited states in 16O by fast neutron interactions. An active target functions as both a target and an active device such as a detector. The de-excitations of the 6.049 and 6.130 states take place by nuclear pair production and γ-ray emission respectively. There is a large probability of absorbing all of the de-excitation energy in the scintillator in either of these cases. Since the energies deposited in the scintillator by these transitions are very close, the de-excitations are indistinguishable. However, since the cross section for the excitation of the 6.13 MeV state is believed to be larger than that of the 6.049 MeV, the major measured features of the energy variations are those related to the second state. The validity of the technique was initially tested using (MCNP) calculations. The calculations established that the detected neutron count rate in the crystal was proportional to the cross-sections used as input for the calculations, and that the constant of proportionality did not vary with neutron energy. Subsequently, measurements were made with a BGO detector as an active oxygen target. The results clearly show a strong energy dependence including several resonances.