Nuclear Emulsions and the Measurement of Low Energy Neutron Spectra

Abstract

An experiment was performed with Ilford Type C2 nuclear emulsion to determine the usefulness of photographic plates for measuring neutron fluxes and spectra by proton recoils in the region of the low energy limit of the emulsion. The results show that the plates give valid data for neutron flux determinations and energy distributions down to a neutron energy of about 0.5 Mev. Below 0.5 Mev the proton recoils give low values for the number of incident neutrons but approximate results can be obtained down to 0.3 Mev by applying a correction factor in this energy region. The experimental results permit a range‐energy curve for protons in C2 emulsion to be determined for the energy region from 0.2 to 1.5 Mev. Finally, recoil proton energy distributions obtained from neutron irradiations of C2 plates at various low energy values are presented and discussed.