A Study of the Filter Functions Used in the Photo-neutron Source

A photo-neutron source driven by a 15 MeV electron LINAC is built for the "Strategic Priority Research Program" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences-the "thorium-based molten salt reactor" project to conduct the nuclear data measurement work,develop neutron detector and carry out reactor material irradiation studies.Since the neutron energy spectrum is continuous,the neutron energy is measured by the time of flight (TOF) method,and neutron filters are needed to confirm absorption peaks,calibrate the TOF,calculate the equivalent flight distance,and remove the experimental background which has great influence on the calculation accuracy of the total cross section.Based on the Monte Carlo simulation tool,Geant4 a simulation environment is set up,including neutron source and neutron filters,to study the energy absorption spectra and thickness of different filters and recommended data for the thickness are provided.The neutron TOF spectra are simulated and compared with experimental measurement,deciding the equivalent TOF distance to be 5.7 m.Geant4 can also simulate the background curve of multiple filters and be used to remove background and analyze errors for the experimental data.All the experiments,simulation and theoretical calculation show consistent results on filter thickness and neutron TOF parameters,indicating the accuracy of the measurement.