Measurement of single 14 MeV neutron bursts with 100 ps time resolution

We have constructed a detector using neutron-damaged GaAs and used it to measure subnanosecond 14 MeV neutron bursts from laser-driven deuterium-tritium filled microspheres. The detector’s very fast response (measured to be 60 ps full width at half-maximum) is due to the phenomenon of radiation-induced conductivity. The absolute sensitivity of the detector has been measured and is in excellent agreement with Monte Carlo calculations. We have also verified that the dectector is linear with neutron flux over two orders of magnitude.