A multisectional annular thermal-neutron detector for the study of diffraction on microsamples in axial geometry

A new gaseous annular sectional thermal-neutron detector for the new neutron diffractometer at the IBR-2 reactor has been designed and manufactured at the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). The detector is designed to study small-volume samples at high pressure and consists of 16 sections, each one of which is divided into six independent detector elements. We present the main design features of the detector, detecting electronics, data-acquisition and visualization software, and software system for experiment management. The results of the first neutronographic experiments that were carried out with the use of the detector are also presented.