Time-of-flight calibration of a 6Li glass epithermal neutron detector

The curing of Portland cement concrete involves the conversion of water from a free to a bound state. The process can be monitored nondestructively by measuring the shift in the neutron energy spectrum in the epithermal range (0.025-1 eV). A tuned array of 6Li glass detectors has been constructed with varying efficiencies over the epithermal energy range. To determine the efficiency of each detector as a function of neutron energy, it is necessary to calibrate it against a reference neutron spectrum. This was accomplished using a time-of-flight approach with a pulsed neutron beam produced at the Gaerttner LINAC Laboratory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. With a neutron flight path of 25 m it was possible to determine the neutron detector efficiencies to an energy resolution of 11 microeV. The data showed good agreement with the detector design calculations.