Due to the increase in demand and price of Helium-3 alternative approaches for developing detectors for various applications in neutron science are of utmost importance.
The Boron Detector with Light and Ionisation Reconstruction (BODELAIRE) combines the concept of a time projection chamber (TPC) with a boronated glass vessel as a neutron conversion stage. It deploys a GridPix-based readout with high granularity and high time resolution, which makes it a suitable candidate for imaging experiments. The naturally abundant isotope Boron-10 absorbs incoming neutrons and decays into an alpha particle and a Lithium ion. One ion enters the drift volume of the TPC and creates a trace of electron-ion pairs, which the readout detects. The other ion, which is emitted in the opposite direction, creates a light signal in the scintillator layer on the glass vessel, which is used to trigger the readout. The light is coupled to a FPGA-controlled silicon photomultiplier-based electronic board, which creates the trigger signal. Trigger signal thresholds can be set by the user.
In this work the detector concept of BODELAIRE and its current stage of development will be presented.
https://youtu.be/Mgqqzt6Iah4?si=JDLqOfsqJKspJDZt&t=24
This is not a DPG talk. I will give an overview of my PhD project and critically analyse it with regard to misconceptions that students have about physics.