Design of an inelastic neutron scattering system based on DT neutron generator for metallic materials analysis

An inelastic neutron scattering system was developed to determine the elemental composition of large metallic materials. The geometrical size of the system was optimized by using Monte Carlo simulation. An experimental setup consisted of a DT neutron generator and a HPGe detector was built based on the optimized configuration and applied to analyze titanium samples. The net peak areas of titanium versus sample mass showed a linear dependence and the mass detection limit was 64 g. The prompt gamma spectra were compared to simulation data. The results demonstrated a good agreement for the signal-to-background ratio of titanium peak between measurements and simulations.