The possibility to detect fast neutrons with a multi-gap resistive plate chamber （MRPC） has been investigated. To detect fast neutrons, a thin polyethylene layer is coated on the surface of electrode glass as a fast neutron converter. The MRPC detects the charged particles generated by neutrons via the （n,p） reaction on hydrogen. A prototype detector has been developed and tested on fast neutron sources in order to evaluate its performance： good agreement between experimental results and simulation has been achieved. A detailed description of the detector and the experimental test results are presented.
Six-gap resistive plate chamber （MRPC） prototypes with semiconductive glass electrodes （bulk resistivity ～ 10^10Ω·cm） were studied for suitability in time-of-flight （TOF） applications at high rates. These studies were performed using a continuous electron beam of 800 MeV at IHEP and an X-ray machine. Time resolutions of about 100 ps and efficiencies larger than 90% were obtained for flux densities up to 28 kHz/cm^2.
Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber （MRPC） is a new generation of gas detector with good timing and spacial resolution, whose technique is widely applied in some recent high energy （nuclear） physics experiments. In this letter, we report a long-strip two-end readout MRPC and its test beam performance. The measurements show that the long-strip performs a transmission line characteristic and the impedance is independent of the length of strip. The MRPC module we developed is presented to gain a timing resolution of -80 ps and a spacial resolution of -6.4 mm. The possible application of the MRPC is also discussed.
