Producing neutrons of well-characterised energy and intensity is hugely beneficial for a large range of applications. Experimental validation alongside numerical simulations are therefore needed to validate new methods to generate these neutrons. This project embeds the student into the University of Birmingham Nuclear Physics group to learn a variety of neutron spectroscopy techniques and tools, using both Birmingham's MC40 Cyclotron and High-Flux Accelerator Driven Neutron facility, providing a unique opportunity for future work in the nuclear sector. This project focuses on the D(d,n) reaction to produce neutrons.
Proposed Scope:
The D-D reaction at low energies produce a mono-energetic neutron spectrum at 0 degrees ranging from 2.45 to 7.71 MeV. When deuterons are accelerated to energies 4.45 MeV, deuteron breakup is present in the neutron spectrum. Thus, there has been a gap in mono-energetic neutron sources between 7.71 MeV and the DT neutrons ~14 MeV. A fast deuteron beam up to 16 MeV produces a quasi-mono-energetic neutron source covering this range however the impact of neutron breakup on this spectrum needs to be quantitatively assessed and the parameter space refined to maximise neutron generation and the mono-energetics of the neutron field created.
This project proposes measuring the D-D neutron spectrum at energies from 0-16 MeV, so that this neutron background can be quantified for set targets design. This work could include the optimisation of experiments by adjusting beam profiles to limit this background, modelling the neutron spectrum in MCNP / OpenMC / Geant4. Development of diagnostics to measure the spectrum produced from the reaction. It is proposed that this measurement could be made on the MC40 cyclotron at the University of Birmingham.
The project is fully funded including tuition paid for home (UK) student fees. Any applicant not eligible for UK student fees would have to find appropriate external sources to cover this.
Due to the nature of the project and sponsor, UK students are preferred however students from EU and NATO countries are highly-encouraged to apply, noting the above funding notice.
The School of Physics and Astronomy is an Institute of Physics Juno Champion since 2014 and holder of the Athena SWAN Silver Award. Both initiatives recognise the School’s commitment to promote diversity and equality, and to encourage better practice for all members of the community, whilst also working towards developing an equitable working culture in which all students and staff can achieve their full potential. We welcome applications from all qualified applicants, and encourage applications from traditionally under-represented groups in physics and astronomy.
