IWU Awarded Collaborative $360,000 Grant in Groundbreaking Research...

Apr. 22, 2024

Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with researchers and students from seven other US colleges and universities on a multi-institutional project to develop a next-generation fast-neutron detector through Michigan State University's (MSU) Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). This detector will contribute to the goal of advancing the field of nuclear physics by helping reveal more knowledge about exotic nuclei and giving undergraduate students the valuable opportunity to learn essential skills while making an active contribution to nuclear physics research.

Speaking about the project, FRIB physicist and project leader Thomas Baumann said, "This new fast-neutron detector will position us to explore distant regions of the nuclear landscape like never before, sharpen theories, and train a new generation of scientists in the process." Although Baumann himself has helped to create some of the current best detectors, this new detector is projected to surpass all of them, becoming an entirely unique and one-of-a-kind device.

While previous fast-neutron detectors have relied on things such as a long plastic scintillator bar and the prevailing time-difference method used even in Baumann's own previous work, this new multi-institutional project will utilize silicon photo multipliers (SiPMs), helping to increase the position resolution by a factor of five.

Indiana Wesleyan University will specifically be responsible for building sixteen of the project's modular detectors, which will be shipped to FRIB and compiled with those from other institutes for the final product. The end goal for this new fast-neutron detector is that it will be used by FRIB for their experiments within the next three years and then beyond.

This project is made possible through a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant which has allowed IWU and its partners to construct a modular plastic scintillator array for fast neutrons at FRIB. While still in development, this project is expected to be completed in 2026.

For more information, contact Dr. Warren Rogers at [email protected].