MARION—Indiana Wesleyan University has received a $362,000 Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant from the National Science Foundation, part of a larger $3.7M grant awarded to eight member institutions in the MoNA (Modular Neutron Array) Collaboration. Dr. Warren Rogers (IWU professor and Blanchard Chair in Physics) is the principal investigator for the IWU grant and is a founding member of the MoNA Collaboration.
The award, titled “Development of a Next Generation Fast Neutron Detector,” will be used to design, construct, test, and install a new high-resolution fast neutron detector array at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), operated by the US Department of Energy and located at Michigan State University (MSU).
For 20 years, the MoNA Collaboration has successfully used 288 long scintillator bars with photomultiplier detectors attached to each end and assembled into a large array to detect fast neutrons produced in their accelerator-based experiments at FRIB. To increase the precision of neutron detection, the collaboration has developed a new detector array design based on 128 large scintillator plates, each equipped with 64 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) detectors, the first neutron detector of its kind in the world.
The project is designed around undergraduate student participation. In the coming summers, several IWU physics students will work with Dr. Rogers (along with students and scientists at member institutions) to build, test, and install 16 of the Next Generation Detector Array plate detectors on the IWU campus, after which they will be shipped to MSU. They will then help assemble the final array on the accelerator line at FRIB, and participate in experiments to study the properties of exotic neutron-rich nuclei using these new detectors at FRIB and at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Regarding the project, FRIB physicist and leader Thomas Baumann said, “This new fast-neutron detector will position us to explore distant regions of the nuclear landscape like never before, sharpen theories, and train a new generation of scientists in the process.” Rogers is excited about the opportunities this grant will open up for IWU physics students, saying, “We are thankful for support from the NSF for our collaboration and for the rare and exciting opportunities it will provide for students to participate in the design, construction, and testing of a brand-new neutron detector design, the first of its kind,” he said, “and apply them in cutting-edge nuclear physics experiments based at FRIB and LANSCE. Opportunities like this are formative for students considering careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.”
The MSU press release for this award can be found here. For more information, contact Dr. Warren Rogers at warren.rogers@indwes.edu
