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Device for Indirect Capture Experiments on Radionuclides (DICER)

An instrument for making resonance neutron transmission measurements on very small radioactive samples to tightly constrain their neutron-capture cross sections.

Contacts  

  • thumbnail of Athanasios Stamatopoulos (Thanos)
  • Instrument Scientist
  • Athanasios Stamatopoulos (Thanos)
  • (505) 665-3114
  • Email
  • thumbnail of Andrew Cooper
  • Instrument Assistant
  • Andrew Cooper
  • (505) 667-2829
  • Email

Instrument Specifications

DICER was developed in 2022 to measure neutron total cross sections in the resonance region on very small radioactive samples as an indirect means to tightly constrain their neutron-capture cross sections. DICER performed a proof-of-principle measurements on 88Zr and planning on an experiment on 88Y and several other radionuclides. As of February 2022, measurements are feasible on samples as small as 1 mm in diameter and source-to-detector flight path length of 32 m (with samples at roughly ½ this distance) are available. A filter box to facilitate background and other measurements is part of the apparatus. Current measurements employ a dual photomultiplier 6Li-glass scintillator detectors and single photomultiplier 6Li-glass scintillator detectors with 2, 4, 6 and 12 mm thicknesses. In addition  CLYC and plastic scintillator detectors are also available as well as a 64 pixel imaging detector, the Large Area Picosecond Photodetector (LAPPD). Planned improvements include a sample collimator/changer/shield for radioactive samples as small as 0.1 mm in diameter and with activities as high as several Curies, and the development of a 64 m station, which is expected to be operational by 2027.

DICER_1.png

Cutaway drawing of the main DICER apparatus.

 

References

 

  1. A. Stamatopoulos et al., “New capability for neutron transmission measurements at LANSCE: The DICER instrument”, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. A, 1025 (2022) 166166, 10.1016/j.nima.2021.166166
  2. A. Stamatopoulos et al., “A Large Area Picosecond Photodetector for Neutron Transmission Measurements at DICER at LANSCE”, IEEE Trans. on Nucl. Sci., 70 7 p. 1416 (2023), 10.1109/TNS.2023.3285068
  3. A. Matyskin et al., “Production of zirconium-88 via proton irradiation of metallic yttrium and preparation of target for neutron transmission measurements at DICER”, Sci. Rep. 13 (1) 1736 (2023), 10.1038/s41598-023-27993-7
  4. A. Stamatopoulos et al., “First study of 88 Zr + n at DICER at LANSCE at energies up to 500 eV and relevance to explosive environments”, Phys. Rev. C (2025) CW10809
  5. A. Stamatopoulos et al., “Origin of the enormous Zr neutron-capture cross section and quantifying its impact on applications”, Phys. Rev. Lett. (2025) LT19410