Felgueiras, Carolina Cabeleira2026-01-132026-01-132025http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/116577Tese de Mestrado, Engenharia Física, 2025, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasThe global shortage of 3He, the most commonly used isotope in neutron detection, and consequently the lack of 3He tubes, has increased the demand for the development of alternative neutron detectors. Among these solutions, Resistive Plate Chambers coupled with neutron converters based on 10B have proven to be a promising and viable replacement solution. This technology has already demonstrated its effectiveness for detecting thermal neutrons and now has the potential to extend its detection capabilities to fast and epithermal neutrons. This work presents a benchmarking study of a novel detector configuration based on 10B-based RPCs exposed to epithermal and fast neutron beams. The analysis of detection efficiency as a function of neutron energy and moderator geometry serves as a key step towards advancing the development of next-generation neutron counters for high-performance applications. A detector prototype, composed of boron carbide (B4C) coated double-gap RPC modules mounted on top of each other, was operated at the HiSPANoS beam line in the CNA facility in Seville. By systematically changing the degree of neutron moderation, the detector response was measured across a wide energy range. The measurements were compared to detailed Monte Carlo simulations using TOPAS and ANTS3, providing a stringent framework to benchmark neutron moderation and capture processes in detector materials. The results show a good agreement between simulated and measured detection efficiencies for epithermal and fast neutrons, for different moderator thicknesses and geometries. These represent a first step towards optimising and implementing 10B-based RPC neutron detectors in future advanced experimental environments.application/pdfengNeutron DetectionResistive Plate Chambers10B converterfast neutronsMonte Carlo simulationsmaster thesis204176107