DESCANT - The DEuterated SCintillator Array for Neutron Tagging

The DESCANT array at TRIUMF is designed to track neutrons from RIB experiments. DESCANT is composed of 70 close-packed deuterated organic liquid scintillators coupled to digital fast read-out ADC modules. This configuration will permit online pulse-shape discrimination between neutron and $\gamma$-ray events. The anisotropy of the $n-d$ scattering will allow distinction of higher neutron multiplicities from scattering within the array and determination of the neutron energy spectrum directly from the pulse-height spectrum without using TOF. A prototype detector has been tested with monoenergetic neutrons at the accelerator laboratory of the University of Kentucky and a $^{24}$Mg($^3$He, n)$^{26}$Si experiment has been performed with eight DESCANT detectors and two HPGe detectors. The results of the tests and the status of DESCANT will be presented.