Preliminary Results of Particle Discrimination with Hybrid Pixel Detectors at the Annular Core Research Reactor

Harsh environments generated by pulsed radiation facilities present challenges in developing diagnostics detectors. High neutron fluxes, short pulse duration, and signal attenuation over long cables limit active diagnostic tools to photodiodes, photo-conducting detectors, and calorimeters. Timepix, inspired by detectors in the Large Hadron Collider, are semi-conductor pixel detectors developed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to perform high fidelity measurements in fast and harsh radiation environments. Due to their particle discrimination capabilities, time resolution, low deadtime, and inherent radiation hardness, we are investigating their potential as an active detector in pulsed and steady-state radiation environments.

Energy spectra and fluxes from testing Timepix of different conversion layers at the Annular Core Research reactor (ACRR) will be used to characterize particle contributions to radiation pulses. In developing an algorithm, Timepix produced the first active energy spectrum at this facility. Implementation of a particle discrimination algorithm to characterize these environments ultimately aims to validate the modeling of the ACRR’s kinetics.