Novel coincidence detection technique for precision measurement of neutron capture-induced nuclear recoils

The lattice dynamics following particle interactions remain not fully understood, and effects from nuclear-recoil interactions in conventional solid-state detectors—such as defect formation—can hinder accurate event-energy interpretation. Neutron capture <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mo stretchy="false">(</a:mo><a:mi>n</a:mi><a:mo>,</a:mo><a:mi>γ</a:mi><a:mo stretchy="false">)</a:mo></a:math> can produce detectable, precise-energy nuclear recoils for detector calibration and solid-state physics studies. This paper proposes a first-of-its-kind experiment to measure the twin products of neutron capture—the postcapture deexcitation gamma and postcapture nuclear recoil. Simulations show that with a 1 mCi californium neutron source, a positive measurement with existing detector technologies is possible in 26.1 gram-days of exposure.