Development of a ceramic-insulated ball-anode element for neutron detection

A novel ceramic-insulated detector element was developed for two-dimensional neutron measurement, and an irradiation experiment was performed using a Cf-252 neutron source. The element consisted of a ceramic insulator and a ball-shaped anode. It is estimated that a ceramic insulator can suppress the background noise caused by unintentionally scattered neutrons. An electrical field of 1.60×107 V/m was obtained based on a calculation at the top of the ball-shaped anode. Neutron signals were clearly observed using the detector element, thus validating its operation.