Eur. Phys. J. A (2016) 52: 55
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2016-16055-8

Special Article - Tools for Experiment and Theory

Conceptual design of the early implementation of the NEutron Detector Array (NEDA) with AGATA

¹ Instituto de Física Corpuscular, CSIC, Universidad de Valencia, E-46980, Paterna (Valencia), Spain
² Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, I-80126, Napoli, Italy
³ Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, D-55099, Mainz, Germany
⁴ Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, I-35020, Legnaro (PD), Italy
⁵ Heavy Ion Laboratory, University of Warsaw, 02-093, Warsaw, Poland
⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, SE-75120, Uppsala, Sweden
⁷ RIKEN Nishina Center, 351-0198, Saitama, Japan
⁸ I3M, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, E-46022, Valencia, Spain
⁹ Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Ankara University, 06100, Ankara, Turkey
¹⁰ The Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
¹¹ Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Valencia, E-46100, Burjassot (Valencia), Spain
¹² Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, 34303, Istanbul, Turkey
¹³ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Arts, University of Nigde, 51240, Niğde, Turkey
¹⁴ GANIL, CEA/DSAM, CNRS/IN2P3, F-14076, Caen, France
¹⁵ National Centre for Nuclear Research, 05-400, Otwock-Swierk, Poland
¹⁶ Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, YO10 5DD, York, UK

^* e-mail: huyuk@ific.uv.es

Received: 8 December 2015
Revised: 14 January 2016
Accepted: 3 February 2016
Published online: 18 March 2016

Abstract

The NEutron Detector Array (NEDA) project aims at the construction of a new high-efficiency compact neutron detector array to be coupled with large -ray arrays such as AGATA. The application of NEDA ranges from its use as selective neutron multiplicity filter for fusion-evaporation reaction to a large solid angle neutron tagging device. In the present work, possible configurations for the NEDA coupled with the Neutron Wall for the early implementation with AGATA has been simulated, using Monte Carlo techniques, in order to evaluate their performance figures. The goal of this early NEDA implementation is to improve, with respect to previous instruments, efficiency and capability to select multiplicity for fusion-evaporation reaction channels in which 1, 2 or 3 neutrons are emitted. Each NEDA detector unit has the shape of a regular hexagonal prism with a volume of about 3.23l and it is filled with the EJ301 liquid scintillator, that presents good neutron- discrimination properties. The simulations have been performed using a fusion-evaporation event generator that has been validated with a set of experimental data obtained in the ⁵⁸Ni + ⁵⁶Fe reaction measured with the Neutron Wall detector array.