ABSTRACT
The nucleus is violently shaken up by the blow, especially if the collision results in the capture of the neutron. Scintillators used for slow neutron detectors can be categorized into two groups, the composed of a single compound that both fluoresces and also interacts strongly with thermal neutrons and the composed of a mixture of two compounds, one of which fluoresces and the other of which contains neutron reactive material. Semiconductor slow-neutron detectors can be classified as either coated detectors or bulk detectors. Coated detectors are electron devices, usually Schottky or junction diodes, upon which a neutron reactive coating has been applied. Coated semiconductor neutron detectors are generally fashioned as semiconductor diodes with a neutron reactive coating applied to the rectifying contact. Fissile materials are also used as neutron detection materials, primarily in gas-filled proportional counters named “fission chambers”. Fission chambers deployed in a nuclear reactor suffer from burnup just as does the nuclear fuel.
