Neutron spectroscopy at very high counting rates for inertial confinement fusion

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions produce sub-nanosecond bursts of neutrons, photons and charged particles. Neutron time-of-flight spectroscopy can be used to characterize important plasma parameters such as plasma density and temperature. In order to measure these properties for a single implosion, the entire spectrum must be accumulated in times on the order of 10 ns. Detectors operating at these enormous counting rates have, to date, all operated in current mode. To obtain more detailed spectra, a detector system operating in pulse mode is being designed and constructed for the Nova Laser Fusion Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Operation at these high counting rates will be achieved by use of large arrays of single-hit detector channels with each channel detecting a single neutron