Grant: Alliance Grants
TRIUMF
$200,000.00
Neutron detection at the GHz scale for General Fusion and beyond
FY 2023-24
Summary
Neutrons carry unique information about the fusion reactions that may soon provide clean energy to most of humanity. General Fusion is pioneering a fusion solution, which at the prototyping stage is expected to produce very intense bursts of neutrons over a very short time. In order to measure the temperature of the produced plasma, a new ultra-fast neutron spectrometer solution is required. The spectrometer must be able to tag neutron interactions every nanosecond (10-9 seconds), i.e. at the GHz rate, which is unprecedented. We are proposing to do this by coupling segmented scintillating material producing very fast (sub-ns) light flashes (scintillation) for each neutron interaction coupled to Silicon Photo-multipliers (SiPMs) and newly developed Photon to Digital Converters (PDCs), able to detect individual photons and deliver digital information every 20ns. PDCs are being developed by Université de Sherbrooke (QC) and fabricated at Teledyne DALSA (Bromont, QC) and they are expected to become available in 2025. This project will demonstrate the unique performance of PDCs for ultra-fast detection of neutrons, with many applications of the technology being foreseen. The team in Vancouver (TRIUMF, Simon Fraser University and General Fusion) will develop the complete system, optimizing for performances that have never been achieved before. The group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA will deliver the segmented scintillating material. The General Fusion LM26 facility is expected to start Fusion reactions in April 2025 and it will be an ideal location for both characterizing the detector performances and assessing the fusion plasma temperature. In order to fit this time scale, the first phase of the project will focus on a SiPM solution, followed by the optimum PDC solution. The deliverables will be: 1) a solution for the detection of ionizing radiation with outstanding response times at the nanosecond scale, relying on an emerging Canadian single photon detection technology and 2) a neutron spectrometer concept enabling General Fusion to diagnose the performance of their demonstration plants starting in 2025.
Program
Alliance Grants
Recipient
Location
British Columbia, Canada
Recipient Type
Not-for-profit organization or charity
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
586536-2023
Name nom
Retiere, Fabrice FG
Department département
Physics
Organization id
8
Institution établissement
TRIUMF
Province en
British Columbia
Province fr
Colombie-Britannique
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2023
Competition year année de concours
2023
Award amount
200000
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
304
Area of application group en
Energy resources
Area of application group fr
Ressources d'énergie
Area of application en
Electrical energy
Area of application fr
Énergie électrique
Research subject code
3103
Research subject group en
Physics
Research subject group fr
Nuclear reactions and scattering
Research subject en
Physique
Research subject fr
Réactions nucléaires et dispersion
Application title
Neutron detection at the GHz scale for General Fusion and beyond
Keyword
Fusion; Gamma ray detection; neutron spectrometry; Particle detection; Single Photon; Ultra-fast
Application summary
Neutrons carry unique information about the fusion reactions that may soon provide clean energy to most of humanity. General Fusion is pioneering a fusion solution, which at the prototyping stage is expected to produce very intense bursts of neutrons over a very short time. In order to measure the temperature of the produced plasma, a new ultra-fast neutron spectrometer solution is required. The spectrometer must be able to tag neutron interactions every nanosecond (10-9 seconds), i.e. at the GHz rate, which is unprecedented. We are proposing to do this by coupling segmented scintillating material producing very fast (sub-ns) light flashes (scintillation) for each neutron interaction coupled to Silicon Photo-multipliers (SiPMs) and newly developed Photon to Digital Converters (PDCs), able to detect individual photons and deliver digital information every 20ns. PDCs are being developed by Université de Sherbrooke (QC) and fabricated at Teledyne DALSA (Bromont, QC) and they are expected to become available in 2025. This project will demonstrate the unique performance of PDCs for ultra-fast detection of neutrons, with many applications of the technology being foreseen. The team in Vancouver (TRIUMF, Simon Fraser University and General Fusion) will develop the complete system, optimizing for performances that have never been achieved before. The group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the USA will deliver the segmented scintillating material. The General Fusion LM26 facility is expected to start Fusion reactions in April 2025 and it will be an ideal location for both characterizing the detector performances and assessing the fusion plasma temperature. In order to fit this time scale, the first phase of the project will focus on a SiPM solution, followed by the optimum PDC solution. The deliverables will be: 1) a solution for the detection of ionizing radiation with outstanding response times at the nanosecond scale, relying on an emerging Canadian single photon detection technology and 2) a neutron spectrometer concept enabling General Fusion to diagnose the performance of their demonstration plants starting in 2025.
