Looking to the Future: Upgrading the Low Energy Neutron Detector Array (LENDA)

LENDA consists of 24 BC-408 plastic-scintillator bars and was designed to detect low energy neutrons produced in (p,n) charge-exchange reactions in inverse kinematics using rare isotope beams. However, LENDA is unable to differentiate between neutron and γ-ray signals, making background subtractions much more challenging than it would be if signal differentiation were possible. Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. (RMD) and Sandia National Laboratory are developing novel organic glass scintillators (OGSs) that have pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities for separating neutrons and gammas. The research group at FRIB that uses LENDA in experiments tested several of these scintillators as they could be potential candidates to add PSD capabilities to LENDA. This talk will focus on the results of tests of six different OGS samples, which included determination of time and energy resolutions, gain, neutron-detection thresholds, and neutron efficiencies.