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The large-area neutron detector, also known as LAND, is the name of a detector of
neutron
The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons behav ...
s installed at GSI (Institute for Heavy Ion Research) in Arheilgen, close to the city of
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
, Germany.
The detector is built of 10 planes with 20 paddles each. The paddles have a size of 10x10x200cm and are composed of a converter (iron) and plastic
scintillator
A scintillator is a material that exhibits scintillation, the property of luminescence, when excited by ionizing radiation. Luminescent materials, when struck by an incoming particle, absorb its energy and scintillate (i.e. re-emit the absorbe ...
material. Within the paddle the 5 mm thick converters serve as a dense target for
neutrons
The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , which has a neutral (not positive or negative) charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. Protons and neutrons constitute the nuclei of atoms. Since protons and neutrons beha ...
leading to processes that eject charged particles through the process of hadronic showers. The interspersed 5mm plastic scintillator stripes produce light for the passing charged particles. The stripes of one paddle are viewed at both ends by
photomultiplier A photomultiplier is a device that converts incident photons into an electrical signal.
Kinds of photomultiplier include:
* Photomultiplier tube, a vacuum tube converting incident photons into an electric signal. Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs for s ...
s.
The detector system was built in 1990.
A research group at GSI is named after this detector. They aim at studying the nuclear structure of
radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...
nuclei.
See also
*
Neutron detection
Neutron detection is the effective detection of neutrons entering a well-positioned detector. There are two key aspects to effective neutron detection: hardware and software. Detection hardware refers to the kind of neutron detector used (the most ...
External links
* T. Blaich ''et al.'', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, A314(1992), p. 136–154, Elsevier NORTH-HOLLAND, ISSN 0168-9002
GSI Particle experimentsParticle detectors