The Bonner sphere spectrometer consists in an array of thermal neutron detectors (3He proportional counters), each housed in a spherical polyethylene moderator of different dimensions. Through the comparison between the neutrons detected by each sphere, it is possible to determine the incident neutron energies. These data are processed by an unfolding code, which provides the neutron spectrum.
A special set is available upon request to extend the energy range up to 5 GeV.
Each sphere is connected to a specifically designed pre-amplification and adjustment module (PREAMP-N-HV) that provides a TTL pulse output completely compatible with the connected digital counting system.
A user-friendly dedicated acquisition software is installed on the PC; it allows to start and stop the measurements as defined by the set parameters, and to store them in tabulated text files. The software allows also to modify the parameters and to visualize the saved data.
The data are stored in the main folder of the archives, which includes a sub-folder for every year.