Calibration of a Silver Detector using a PuBe Source

Author

Melanie E. Mace

Date of Award

6-14-2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Engineering Physics

First Advisor

John W. McClory, PhD.

Abstract

During the initial design of the Field Reversed Compression and Heating Experiment (FRCHX), magnetohydrodynamic simulations performed by Los Alamos National Laboratory using MACH2 predicted a neutron yield on the order of 10¹² neutrons. However, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) measurements indicate a total of 10⁷-10⁸ neutrons are generated from the FRCHX. A PuBe source was used to create a burst of neutrons to calibrate an AFRL silver detector based on distance to determine if the four order of magnitude discrepancy was cause by an improperly calibrated detector. It was determined that the calibration equation in use by AFRL for the silver detectors was correct within error at most points compared to this work. An alternate calibration equation F_PuBe = 12.2D² + 3020D where D is the distance in inches from the source to the front face of the silver detector, was found using least squares techniques to reduce the residuals of the data collected using the PuBe source. The silver detectors were properly calibrated which does not account for the large order of magnitude difference observed between experiment and simulation of the FRCHX.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-NUCL-ENP-12-J01

DTIC Accession Number

ADA562794

Recommended Citation

Mace, Melanie E., "Calibration of a Silver Detector using a PuBe Source" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 1183.
https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/1183