Evaluation of a linear position sensitive neutron detector for powder spectroscopy

A one meter long position sensitive detector was acquired from Harshaw Corp. for a small angle neutron camera operated by the University of Rhode Island at the 2 MW reactor of the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center. In the course of testing the detector system, to determine linearity, resolution, stability, and efficiency, it was employed in a powder spectrometer. Once geometrical effects are properly taken care of, it appears that the present detector, though not optimized for powder diffraction, permits collection of data essentially equivalent to that taken with the original step scanned detector though 15 times faster