Advancements and characterization of Low Energy Neutron Detector Array (Large LENDA)*

The study of charge-exchange reactions is important to understand the spin and isospin structure of nuclei, which allows researchers to improve nuclear models. An upcoming experiment at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory will use the ¹²N(p,n)¹²O charge-exchange reaction to study the structure of  ¹²O. This is the first (p,n) experiment on a proton-rich unstable nucleus, and results will provide techniques to study heavier proton-rich systems, ultimately up to the region near  ¹⁰⁰Sn. The reaction kinematics will be reconstructed from the energy and angle of the ejected neutron. The neutron is detected by the Low Energy Neutron Detector Array (LENDA), a set of twenty-four 30 cm-long plastic scintillators. To improve neutron detection efficiency, large 150 cm-long plastic scintillators will be added to LENDA. To ensure uniform detection capabilities across all new detectors, several characterization tests were carried out. These included light leak reduction, attenuation length measurement, optimum bias determination, gain matching, energy/position calibrations, and timing resolution measurements. Methods and results of the characterizations will be discussed.