Journal of the Korean Physical Society, Vol. 59, No. 2, August 2011, pp.

17251728

Measurement of Deuteron Induced Thick Target Neutron Yields at 9 MeV

N. Shigyo, K. Hidaka, K. Hirabayashi, Y. Nakamura, D. Moriguchi, M. Kumabe and H. Hirano
Department of Applied Quantum Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan

S. Hirayama, Y. Naitou , C. Motooka , C. Lan , T. Watanabe

and Y. Watanabe

Department of Advanced Energy Engineering Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan

K. Sagara
Department of Physics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan

S. Maebaru, H, Sakaki and H. Takahashi

Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
(Received 26 April 2010)
The double differential thick target neutron yields from 9 MeV deuteron incidence were measured
at the Kyushu University Tandem Accelerator Laboratory. A copper and a titanium foils which
are thick enough for a deuteron to stop in the foils were placed at the center of a vacuum chamber.
An NE213 liquid organic scintillator was employed to detect neutrons emitted from targets and
placed at 9 directions from 0 to 140 . To consider the contribution of scattered neutrons from the
floor, we also measured neutron yields with an iron shadow bar located in front of the scintillator.
Because incident deuteron beam was not pulsed and the Time-of-Flight method was not applied,
the energy spectrum was derived from unfolding the light output spectrum using the FORIST code.
The detection efficiency was calculated with the SCINFUL-QMD code. The experimental results
were compared with the calculation data of the TALYS code, and it turned out that the calculation
data does not reproduce the experimental ones satisfactorily.
PACS numbers: 25.45.-z
Keywords: Deuteron, Neutron, Thick target yield, Copper, Titanium, NE213, Unfolding
DOI: 10.3938/jkps.59.1725

I. INTRODUCTION
The IFMIF-EVEDA (International Fusion Material
Irradiation Facility-Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activity) [1] activities in the framework
of EU-Japan Bilateral Agreement for the Broader Approach for Fusion, an accelerator has been developed for
demonstration of 9 MeV - 125 mA deuteron beam [2].
Most of secondary neutrons and rays are estimated to
be produced at the beam dump and the matching section between an RFQ and a drift tube linac because of
large amount of beam loss at the components. A copper
or a titanium is a possible material as the beam dump.
Reliable evaluation of radiation dose by the deuteron incident nuclear reactions and analysis of shielding data
by deuteron beam is essential for safety license to the
accelerator facility. Information of the double differential neutron thick target yields for deuteron incidence as
the neutron source term are important for the accurate
E-mail:

shigyo@kune2a.nucl.kyushu-u.ac.jp
address: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos,
NM 87545, USA
Present

radiation dose estimation. However, experimental data

of deuteron induced neutron yields are scarce below 10
MeV.
The purpose of this study is experimentally to obtain
the double differential neutron thick target yields for 9
MeV deuteron induced to copper and titanium targets.
The experimental results are compared with the calculation data of the TALYS [3] code.
II. EXPERIMENT
1. Experimental Setup

The experiment was performed at the 1st target room

in the Kyushu University Tandem Accelerator Laboratory. The experimental setup is illustrated in Fig. 1.
The 9 MeV deuteron beam from the tandem accelerator was delivered to a compact vacuum target chamber
in the target room. The chamber was insulated from
other experimental apparatus and the ground of the experimental room in order to acquire the deuteron beam
current. The average beam current was about 10 nA.

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Journal of the Korean Physical Society, Vol. 59, No. 2, August 2011

Fig. 1. Experimental setup for the deuteron incident double differential neutron thick target yield measurement at the
Kyushu University Tandem Accelerator Laboratory.

Fig. 2. (Color online) Examples of light output spectra

normalized by the number of incident deuteron for a copper target. Upper and lower lines stand for foreground and
background measurements, respectively.

The target chamber 260 mm in diameter equipped a

target frame which enabled to mount up to 4 target foils
at the center of the chamber. A 2 cm height aperture
was set at the beam line height of the chamber in order
to reduce neutron scattering at the stainless wall of the
chamber. The aperture was covered with a 125 m thick
Mylar film to keep a vacuum inside the chamber.
A 0.2 mm thick copper and a 0.3 mm thick titanium
foils were chosen as targets and set at the target frame of
the vacuum chamber. These target thicknesses were calculated enough to completely stop the 9 MeV deuteron
beam by the SRIM code [4].
An NE213 liquid organic scintillator 50.4 mm thick
and 50.4 mm in diameter optically coupled with a Hamamatsu H1949 photomultiplier was adopted as a neutron
detector. The electronic pulse signal as the light output of the scintillator was carried to the electronics and
recorded as integrated charge information into 2 ADCs
with different length of gates to separate neutron and
ray events.
The measurement directions were 0 , 15 , 30 , 45 ,

Fig. 3. (Color online) The two dimensional plot of neutron and ray discrimination using the two gate integration
method.

60 , 75 , 90 , 120 , and 140 . The neutron detector was

placed at each direction. The distances from the target
and the neutron detector were varied from 1.6 to 2.4
m depending on the available area of the experimental
room.
In order to obtain contribution of neutrons from floor
and wall in the experimental room, the measurement
which an iron shadow bar 150 mm 150 mm and
300 mm thick was set between the target and the neutron
detector for each direction as background measurement.
Examples of charge spectra for foreground and shadow
bar (background) measurements normalized by the number of incident deuteron for a copper target are indicated
in Fig. 2.
2. Data Analysis

First, ray events were separated from the charge

spectra using the two gate integration method because
the NE213 scintillator is sensitive to rays in addition
to neutrons. Figure 3 shows the two dimensional plot
of neutron and ray discrimination. One can see that
neutron events were separated from ray ones in low
light output region in the figure.
Second, the charge spectra of neutron events were converted to the amount in the unit of electron equivalent
using rays from 133 Ba (E = 0.36 MeV), 137 Cs (E =
0.66 MeV), 60 Co (E = 1.17 and 1.33 MeV), and Am-Be
(E = 4.44 MeV) standard ray sources. The calibration curve was given by fitting the Compton edge events
of these rays. The relationship between the charge
recorded into an ADC and the light output is shown in
Fig. 4.
The time-of-flight method was not applied because
the deuteron beam was delivered to the target vacuum
chamber continuously and it was difficult to produce
pulse beam at the accelerator facility. The neutron energy spectra were derived from unfolding the integrated
charge spectra as the scintillation light output ones using
the response functions of the NE213 scintillator. The re-

Measurement of Deuteron Induced Thick Target Neutron Yields at 9 MeV N. Shigyo et al.

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1x109
0

Cu

1x108
15 x 10-1

Neutron Thick Target Yield [n/MeV/sr/C]

1x107
30 x 10-2

1x106
45 x 10-3

1x105
60 x 10-4

1x104
75 x 10-5

1x103
90 x 10-6

1x102
120 x 10-7

1x101
150 x 10-8

1
1x10-1
1x10-2

Fig. 4. (Color online) The relationship between charge

recorded into an ADC and electron equivalent light output.

Experiment
TALYS 1.0
TALYS 1.2

1x10-3
1x10-4

10

12

14

16

18

Neutron Energy [MeV]

Fig. 7. (Color online) The double differential neutron thick

target yield for 9 MeV deuteron induced to a copper target.
Marks, dashed and solid lines stand for experimental data
and calculation values by version 1.0 and 1.2 of the TALYS
code, respectively.

cessed by the FORIST code [6].

III. RESULTS AND DISSCUSSION

Fig. 5. (Color online) Detector response functions of the

NE213 scintillator calculated with the SCINFUL-QMD code.

Fig. 6. (Color online) The results of measured neutron

energy spectra of Am-Be compared with data acquired by
Marsh et al. [7].

sponse functions were calculated by the SCINFUL-QMD

code [5]. Figure 5 indicates the calculated response functions.
The unfolding of the light output spectra were pro-

For validation of the unfolding method, the measurement of neutrons from an Am-Be and a 252 Cf as well
known neutron energy spectra. The results of measurement is shown in Fig. 6. This result reproduces overall
shape of neutron energy spectra by Marsh et al. [7].
However, this result does not reproduce the structure in
the region between 7 and 10 MeV. This is because the
neutron energy and the light output bins were roughly
divided in this data analysis. The minimum neutron energy determined by the measurement was about 2 MeV.
The experimental results of the double differential
neutron thick target yields for deuteron induced on a
copper and a titanium targets are indicated in Figs. 7
and 8, respectively. Both neutron energy spectra for a
copper and a titanium targets show similar tendencies.
The titanium total neutron yield is higher than that of
the copper target.
For the comparison with the experimental data, the
calculation by versions 1.0 and 1.2 of the TALYS code
were performed. The difference between version 1.0 and
1.2 is the part of deuteron breakup calculation. Version
1.2 adopts the simple model by Kalbach [9]. The AnCai potential [8] for deuteron incidence was applied. The
energy loss of deuteron in the thick target was considered
in the calculation. The simulated data are also indicated
in Figs. 7 and 8. The neutron yields by TALYS-1.2 is
less than those by TALYS-1.0 above 8 MeV region.
For the copper target, Both version of TALYS codes
generally reproduce neutron energy spectra. On the

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Journal of the Korean Physical Society, Vol. 59, No. 2, August 2011
1x109
0

code generally reproduce the neutron thick target yield

for the copper target. On the other hand, the code underestimates the neutron energy spectra for the titanium
target in higher neutron energy region.

Ti

1x108
15 x 10-1

Neutron Thick Target Yield [n/MeV/sr/C]

1x107
30 x 10-2

1x106
45 x 10-3

1x105
60 x 10-4

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1x104
75 x 10-5

1x10

90 x 10-6

This study was carried out under the joint research between JAEA and Kyushu University for the
IFMIF/EVEDA Project.

1x102
120 x 10-7

1x101
150 x 10-8

1
1x10-1
1x10-2

Experiment
TALYS 1.0
TALYS 1.2

1x10-3
1x10-4

REFERENCES
6

10

12

14

16

18

Neutron Energy [MeV]

Fig. 8. (Color online) The double differential neutron thick

target yield for 9 MeV deuteron induced to a titanium target.
Marks, dashed and solid lines stand for experimental data
and calculation values by version 1.0 and 1.2 of the TALYS
code, respectively.

other hand, TALYS-1.0 and 1.2 underestimate neutron

thick target yields for the titanium target above several
MeV.
IV. SUMMARY
The double differential neutron yields from 9 MeV
deuteron incident on a copper and a titanium thick targets were measured for reliable radiation dose evaluation
at the high power deuteron accelerator facility. The light
output spectra were unfolded by the FORIST code in order to derive the neutron energy spectra because it was
unable to generate pulsed deuteron beam. The TALYS

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