An LNGS Mobile Neutron Detector (ALMOND): Mapping Ambient Neutron Background of Gran Sasso National Laboratory

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Solmaz, Melih, Eitel, Klaus, Ferella, Alfredo Davide, Kratzmeier, Felix, Pompa, Francesco, Valerius, Kathrin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Solmaz, Melih
Eitel, Klaus
Ferella, Alfredo Davide
Kratzmeier, Felix
Pompa, Francesco
Valerius, Kathrin
author_facet Solmaz, Melih
Eitel, Klaus
Ferella, Alfredo Davide
Kratzmeier, Felix
Pompa, Francesco
Valerius, Kathrin
contents In deep underground laboratories, environmental neutrons, which are produced at the cavern walls, introduce a source of background to rare event searches. The flux and spectrum of the ambient neutrons vary considerably with time and location. Precise knowledge of this background is necessary to devise shielding and veto mechanisms, thereby improving the sensitivity of the neutron-susceptible underground experiments. ALMOND, currently in operation, is a low-flux mobile neutron spectrometer developed for the LNGS underground laboratory to measure the ambient neutron background of the entire facility. In this paper, an overview of the design, construction and calibration of ALMOND is given. Furthermore, the result of the first underground neutron measurement is shown along with an outlook for future measurements and analyses.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_14261
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An LNGS Mobile Neutron Detector (ALMOND): Mapping Ambient Neutron Background of Gran Sasso National Laboratory
Solmaz, Melih
Eitel, Klaus
Ferella, Alfredo Davide
Kratzmeier, Felix
Pompa, Francesco
Valerius, Kathrin
Instrumentation and Detectors
In deep underground laboratories, environmental neutrons, which are produced at the cavern walls, introduce a source of background to rare event searches. The flux and spectrum of the ambient neutrons vary considerably with time and location. Precise knowledge of this background is necessary to devise shielding and veto mechanisms, thereby improving the sensitivity of the neutron-susceptible underground experiments. ALMOND, currently in operation, is a low-flux mobile neutron spectrometer developed for the LNGS underground laboratory to measure the ambient neutron background of the entire facility. In this paper, an overview of the design, construction and calibration of ALMOND is given. Furthermore, the result of the first underground neutron measurement is shown along with an outlook for future measurements and analyses.
title An LNGS Mobile Neutron Detector (ALMOND): Mapping Ambient Neutron Background of Gran Sasso National Laboratory
topic Instrumentation and Detectors
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.14261