Monte Carlo simulation of a fast neutron counter for use in neutron radiography

In this paper, a Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation is employed to evaluate the response of a neutron detection sheet composed of a layer of plexiglas as neutron-to-proton converter and a layer of silver-activated zinc sulphide (ZnS(Ag)) as phosphor. ZnS(Ag) scintillators have the largest light output among the scintillators for fast-neutron spectroscopy. The simulations are performed for 252Cf neutrons which after impinging the converter layer of the detector produce recoil protons. Recoil protons that interact with the scintillator deposit energy which is converted to scintillation light. In this report, different aspects of the ZnS(Ag)-detector, such as the effective converter and scintillator thickness, as well as the detector response are investigated.