Experimental and theoretical study of BF3 detector response for thermal neutrons in reflecting materials

Abstract Experimental measurements of the response of BF 3 detector to a 3 Ci Am–Be neutron source for three different reflecting materials, i.e., aluminum, wood, and Perspex of varying thicknesses have been carried out. The varying contribution of wall effect to the response due to change in active volume of the detector has also been determined experimentally. Then, a Monte Carlo code has been developed for the calculation of the neutron response function of the BF 3 detector using source biasing and importance sampling. This code simulates the BF 3 detector response exposed to the neutron field in a three-dimensional source, detector, and reflecting medium configurations. The results of simulation have been compared with the corresponding experimental measurements and are found to be in good agreement. The experimental neutron albedo measurements for various values of Perspex thickness show saturating behavior, and results agree very well with the data obtained by Monte Carlo simulation.