Spectroscopic analysis of photoneutrons in intense γ-ray background

P V Arun; C V Midhun; M M Musthafa; A Silpa; Joseph Naiby; M Sreena; M P Thesni Farhana; E S Keerthi; M V Deepthi; Joseph Antony

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110944

Spectroscopic analysis of photoneutrons in intense γ-ray background

Appl Radiat Isot. 2023 Oct:200:110944. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110944. Epub 2023 Jul 20.

Authors

P V Arun¹, C V Midhun², M M Musthafa³, A Silpa⁴, Joseph Naiby⁵, M Sreena², M P Thesni Farhana², E S Keerthi², M V Deepthi², Joseph Antony²

Affiliations

¹ Nuclear and Radiation Physics Group, Department of Physics, University of Calicut, Kerala 673635, India. Electronic address: arunmohan8897@gmail.com.
² Nuclear and Radiation Physics Group, Department of Physics, University of Calicut, Kerala 673635, India.
³ Nuclear and Radiation Physics Group, Department of Physics, University of Calicut, Kerala 673635, India. Electronic address: mmm@uoc.ac.in.
⁴ Department of Radiation Oncology, Malabar Cancer Center, Thalassery, 670103, India.
⁵ Caritas Hospital, Thellakom, Kottayam, Kerala 686630, India.

PMID: 37499461
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2023.110944

Abstract

CR-39 SSNTD is used to measure the photoneutron spectrum produced by a medical linear accelerator in an intense γ-ray background. The spectroscopic resolution and the neutron detection threshold have been improved by introducing the event selection criteria, based on the track diameter-brightness correlation. The CR-39 detector's efficiency is determined by adapting the ¹H(n,el) cross section from the ENDF/B-VIII.0 evaluations. The measured spectrum was reproduced through Talys-1.96 calculations by implementing the Gogny-HFB microscopic level density model.

Keywords: Neutron dosimetry; Neutron spectrum; Passive neutron spectroscopy; Photonuclear reactions; SSNTD.