Author Description

This is a Ph.D. dissertation. For probing the structure and dynamics of matter at an atomic, molecular and mesoscopic level, elastic and inelastic neutron scattering, diffractometry, reflectometry and a variety of other neutron scattering methods are of utmost importance. For them the availability of highly efficient and fast large-area position-sensitive neutron detectors is a condition of growing importance. In particular, the upcoming third generation of neutron sources, consisting of high-intensity pulsed spallation neutron sources, in conjunction with current progress in neutron optics will increase the peak neutron flux at the spectrometers' samples positions by more than two orders of magnitude. Consequently, much faster detectors than presently available with improved background are required in order to take full advantage of these increased source strengths and us pulse widths. In addition, due to the higher neutron fluxes, longer flight paths and smaller samples can be used and if higher 'matched' spatial detector resolutions are available better lattice resolutions can be attained. The goal of the research described in this dissertation is to develop a thermal neutron detector that meets as many as possible of the requirements being formulated during the ongoing design of the third generation of neutron sources.