A wide dynamic range BF3 neutron monitor with front-end electronics based on a logarithmic amplifier

This paper describes a wide dynamic range neutron monitor based on a BF3 neutron detector. The detector is used in current mode, and front-end electronics based on a logarithmic amplifier are used in order to have a measurement capability ranging over many orders of magnitude.The system has been calibrated at the Polytechnic of Milan, CESNEF, with an AmBe neutron source, and has been tested in a pulsed field at the PUNITA facility at JRC, Ispra.The detector has achieved a dynamic range of over 6 orders of magnitude, being able to measure single neutron pulses and showing saturation-free response for a reaction rate up to 106 s−1. It has also proved effective in measuring the PUNITA facility pulse integral fluence.