Proof-of-principle for fast neutron detection with advanced tracking arrays of highly segmented germanium detectors

Recent advances in germanium detector technology have promised much higher efficiency for γ-ray detection through tracking the interaction of γ-rays in the crystal using pulse shape analysis. We present a related approach where the unique characteristics of the excitation and delayed decay of the excited 0+ state in 72Ge within a highly segmented germanium detector may be used as a very sensitive tag for fast neutrons by making use of pulse shape analysis. A proof-of-principle of this technique is presented and an efficiency for fast neutrons of up to 1.5% for a 4π tracking array is deduced. Neutron interactions may be localised with the unprecedentedly high angular resolution of 0.5∘ for a compact (20-cm radius) array. The application of these properties as a novel approach to a broad class of important transfer reactions such as (d,n) and (3He,n) is presented.