(n,p) reactions contribution in spherical proton recoil proportional counter responses

International audienceProton recoil proportional counters are used in several metrological institutes as reference neutron spectrometers within the energy range from a few tenth of keV up to a few MeV. When such counters are used to determine the low energy range of neutron fields with energies above 5 MeV, protons generated by (n,p) reactions within the stainless steel counter walls will add their contribution to the proton recoil process. In this work, this contribution has been estimated in the calculated response of the counter, using MCNPX Monte Carlo code. The validation of the calculated response has been performed at several AMANDE mono-energetic neutron fields. © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA