Imaging neutron capture cross sections: i-TED proof-of-concept and future prospects based on Machine-Learning techniques

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Babiano-Suárez, V, Lerendegui-Marco, J, Balibrea-Correa, J, Caballero, L, Calvo, D, Domingo-Pardo, C, Calviño, F, Casanovas, A, Alcayne, V, Guerrero, C, Millán-Callado, M A, Rodríguez González, M T, Barbagallo, M, Aberle, O, Andrzejewski, J, Audouin, L, Bennett, S, Berthoumieux, E, Billowes, J, Brown, A, Busso, M, Caamaño, M, Colonna, N, Cortés, G, Cortés-Giraldo, M A, Cosentino, L, Damone, L A, Davies, P J, Diakaki, M, Dietz, M, Dressler, R, Ducasse, Q, Dupont, E, Durán, I, Eleme, Z, B Fern\', Finocchiaro, P, Furman, V, Göbel, K, Garg, R, Gawlik, A, Gonçalves, I F, Gunsing, F, Harada, H, Heinitz, S, Heyse, J, Jenkins, D G, Junghans, A, Käppeler, F, Kadi, Y, Knapova, I, Kurtulgil, D, Leeb, H, Lonsdale, S J, Manna, A, Martinez, T, Masi, A, Mastinu, P, Mastromarco, M, Maugeri, E A, Mazzone, A, Mengoni, A, Michalopoulou, V, Mingrone, F, Moreno-Soto, J, Musumarra, A, Negret, A, Ogállar, F, Patronis, N, Pavlik, A, Perkowski, J, Persanti, L, Petrone, C, Pirovano, E, Porras, I, Praena, J, Quesada, J M, Ramos-Doval, D, Rauscher, T, Reifarth, R, Rochman, D, Sabaté-Gilarte, M, Schillebeeckx, P, Schumann, D, Sekhar, A, Sosnin, N V, Sprung, P, Stamatopoulos, A, Tagliente, G, Tassan-Got, L, Ulrich, J, Urlass, S, Vannini, G, Variale, V, Vaz, P, Vlachoudis, V, Wallner, A, Woods, P J, Wright, T, Žugec, P
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 18.12.2020
• Subjects: Absorption cross sections; Detectors; Imaging techniques; Machine learning; Nuclear capture; Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; Physics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics; Physics - Nuclear Experiment; Position sensing; Sensors; Time measurement
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2012.10374

i-TED is an innovative detection system which exploits Compton imaging techniques to achieve a superior signal-to-background ratio in (\(n,\gamma\)) cross-section measurements using time-of-flight technique. This work presents the first experimental validation of the i-TED apparatus for high-resolution time-of-flight experiments and demonstrates for the first time the concept proposed for background rejection. To this aim both \(^{197}\)Au(\(n,\gamma\)) and \(^{56}\)Fe(\(n, \gamma\)) reactions were measured at CERN n\_TOF using an i-TED demonstrator based on only three position-sensitive detectors. Two \cds detectors were also used to benchmark the performance of i-TED. The i-TED prototype built for this study shows a factor of \(\sim\)3 higher detection sensitivity than state-of-the-art \cds detectors in the \(\sim\)10~keV neutron energy range of astrophysical interest. This paper explores also the perspectives of further enhancement in performance attainable with the final i-TED array consisting of twenty position-sensitive detectors and new analysis methodologies based on Machine-Learning techniques.