Thesis defense of Alina Johanna Landmann

Active neutron flux measurements are crucial in many different applications, such as non-destructive material testing, soilwater contentdetermination or in radiation therapy. Another field of application is active neutron flux monitoring in (research) reactors duringexperiments. Many commercially available neutron detectors use ³He as a neutron converter to detect indirectly ionizing neutrons, as it exhibits a high neutron interaction cross-section. However, the increasing scarcity and cost of ³He have motivated the search for alternative neutron detection technologies. In this thesis, a novel silicon-based detector prototype with interchangeable neutron converter carrier plates is developed, characterized, and tested in laboratory conditions with a low flux neutron source at TU Dortmund University. Finally, an improved prototype detector is tested in the thermal column of a Training Research Isotopes General Atomics (TRIGA) reactor. A pulse shape discrimination algorithm in the signal processing is applied to distinguish between neutron and background radiation. The results obtained demonstrate the potential of silicon-based neutron detectors for reactor monitoring.