Utilization of Low Voltage D-T Neutron Generators in Neutron Physics Studies

In a small nuclear laboratory of a developing country a low voltage D-T neutron generator can be a very useful scientific apparatus. Such machines have been used successfully for more than 40 years in teaching and scientific research. This thesis is a description of contributions by the author to make a few more additions to their existing variety of applications.<p /> The original continuous mode 150-kV D-T neutron generator has been modified to have also a capability of producing 2-ns pulsed neutrons. Together with a carefully designed 10 m long flight path collimator and shielding of a 25 cmØ x 10 cm thick BC-501 neutron detector, the pulsing system was successfully used for measuring the double differential cross-section (DDX) of natural iron for 14.1-MeV neutron from the angle of 30 deg to 150 deg in 10 deg steps.<p /> In order to extend the utility of the generator, two methods for converting the almost monoenergetic 14-MeV neutrons to monoenergetic neutrons of lower energy were proposed and tested. Both designs used the neutron-proton interaction at a circular surface-of-revolution made of hydrocarbon materials. The first design is for a pulsed neutron generator and the second design is for an ordinary continuous mode generator. The latter method was successfully used to measure the scintillation light output of a 1.4 cmØ spherical NE-213 scintillation detector