This year marks the 40th anniversary of the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory: a milestone for one of the world’s leading facilities in neutron science. Spallation sources are large scale machines that accelerate protons to high energies (hundreds of MeV) and smash them into heavy metal targets, creating high-intensity neutron beams. Neutrons are used for science and can make an enormous impact across fields like material science, biology, electronics, and even medical research.
Central to maximizing the potential of these sources is the development of advanced neutron detection technologies. This presentation focuses on the challenges and solutions in detecting neutrons across a broad energy spectrum, from thermal neutrons in the meV range—essential for neutron scattering—to fast neutrons in the MeV to GeV range, critical for microelectronics irradiation.
For thermal neutrons, the transition from traditional helium-3 detectors to newer scintillators incorporating boron or lithium reactions represents a significant advancement. Meanwhile, detecting fast neutrons has motivated innovation in solid-state detectors, including silicon and diamond-based technologies, as well as threshold reaction activation analysis.