Speaker
Description
As fusion research advances toward the burning plasma era, the role of neutron diagnostics becomes increasingly central, not only as a tool for assessing fusion performance, but also for probing fast ion behavior, confinement properties, and plasma heating. In this context, RFX-mod2, a major upgrade of the RFX-mod reversed-field pinch experiment, is being equipped with a new suite of neutron diagnostics aimed at expanding its capabilities for studying energetic particle physics and fusion neutron production. This contribution presents the development of fast 2.5 MeV neutron detectors designed to operate in the challenging conditions of RFX-mod2, where compactness, insensitivity to magnetic fields, and high temporal resolution are essential. The system is based on organic scintillators coupled with silicon photomultipliers to achieve a high counting rate and effective discrimination between neutrons and gammas, enabling time-resolved studies of neutron emission even in short or rapidly evolving plasma phenomena, such as magnetic reconnections.
