Design and demonstration of a quasi-monoenergetic neutron source

The design of a neutron source capable of producing 24 and 70 keV neutron beams with narrow energy spread is presented. The source exploits near-threshold kinematics of the 7Li (p,n)7Be reaction while taking advantage of the interference ‘notches’ found in the scattering cross-sections of iron. The design was implemented and characterized at the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Alternative filters such as vanadium and manganese are also explored and the possibility of studying the response of different materials to low-energy nuclear recoils using the resultant neutron beams is discussed.