Conceptual design of a Cs2LiLaBr6 scintillator‑based neutron total cross section spectrometer on the back‑n beam line at CSNS

To reduce the experimental uncertainty in the 235 U resonance energy region and improve the detection efficiency for neutron total cross section measurements compared with those obtained with the neutron total cross section spectrometer(NTOX), a dedicated lithium-containing scintillation detector has been developed on the Back-n beam line at the China Spallation Neutron Source. The Fast Scintillator-based Neutron Total Cross Section(FAST) spectrometer has been designed based on a Cs2Li La Br6(CLLB) scintillator considering the γ-ray flash and neutron environment on the Back-n beam line. The response of the CLLB scintillator to neutrons and γ-rays was evaluated with different 6Li/7 Li abundance ratios using Geant4. The neutron-γdiscrimination performance of the CLLB has been simulated considering different scintillation parameters, physical designs,and light readout modes. A cubic 6Li-enriched( > 90%) CLLB scintillator, which has a thickness of 4-9 mm and side length of no less than 50 mm to cover the Φ 50 mm neutron beam at the spectrometer position, has been proposed coupling to a side readout SiPM array to construct the FAST spectrometer. The developed simulation techniques for neutron-γ discrimination performance could provide technical support for other neutron-induced reaction measurements on the Back-n beam line.