Content deleted Content added
Sstephen68 (talk | contribs) updated instutitional members of collaboration, updated history to be current |
|||
Line 1:
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:mona above.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The MoNA Array]] -->
The '''Modular Neutron Array (MoNA)''' is a large-area, high efficiency [[neutron detector]] that is used in basic research of rare isotopes at [[Michigan State University]]'s [[National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory]] (NSCL), a nuclear physics research facility. It is specifically designed for detecting [[neutrons]] stemming from breakup reactions of fast fragmentation beams.
== The MoNA Detector Array ==
The Modular Neutron Array consists of 144 individual detector modules. Each module is based on a plastic [[scintillator]] measuring 10 cm by 10 cm by 200 cm. This scintillator bar is fitted with light guides on each end that direct the light into one [[photo-multiplier tube]] on each end. Each detector module is wrapped in a light-tight material, allowing the detector array to be arranged in different configurations.
In its original configuration, MoNA consisted of 9 vertical layers of 16 detectors stacked closely, having an active area of 2.0 m wide by 1.6 m tall. In its current arrangement (depicted in the image to the right), it is stacked in four separate sections of 2, 2, 2, and 3 layers each, respectively, separated by spaces ranging from 0.5 to 0.8 meters. It measures both the position and time of neutron events with multiple-hit capability. The energy of a neutron is based on a time-of-flight measurement. This information together with the detected position of the neutron is used to construct the momentum vector of the neutrons.<ref>B. Luther et al., Nucl. Instr. And Methods A505, 33 (2003)</ref><ref>T. Baumann et al., Nucl. Instr. And Methods A543, 517 (2005)</ref>
Line 14:
Several NSCL users from undergraduate schools were present at the working group meeting and they suggested that the modular nature and simple construction would offer great opportunities to involve undergraduate students.
In the spring of 2001, the idea evolved into several MRI proposals submitted by 10 different institutions, most of them undergraduate schools. Physicists at these ten academic
*[[Central Michigan University]]
*[[Concordia College (Minnesota)|Concordia College at Moorhead]]
Line 28:
The proposals were funded by the NSF in the summer of 2001. Following the detailed design, the first modules of the detector array were delivered in the summer of 2002. During the following year all modules were assembled and tested by undergraduate students at their school,<ref>R. H. Howes et al., American Journal of Physics 73, 122 (2005)</ref> and finally added to form the complete array at the NSCL.
The MoNA collaboration continued after the initial phase of construction and commissioning was concluded [MoNA], and is now using the detector array for experiments, giving a large number of undergraduate students from all collaborating schools the opportunity to take part in cutting-edge nuclear physics experiments at one of the world’s leading rare-isotope facilities. The research at the undergraduate institutions is funded by the NSF through several RUI (Research at Undergraduate Institutions) grants.
== The MoNA Collaboration ==
| |||