The response to a 1/E neutron spectrum of a hydrogen-filled proportional counter in the energy region below 100 keV was studied using pulse-shape discrimination to reject gamma-induced background. The observed proton-recoil distributions permitted an evaluation of W (the energy loss per ion pair) for protons in hydrogen below 19 keV. Some problems associated with the use of 4Pi-recoil proportional counters as neutron spectrometers were considered including calibration, optimization of neutron-to-gamma ratios, and resolving power.

The response to a 1/E neutron spectrum of a hydrogen-filled proportional counter in the energy region below 100 keV was studied using pulse-shape discrimination to reject gamma-induced background. The observed proton-recoil distributions permitted an evaluation of W (the energy loss per ion pair) for protons in hydrogen below 19 keV. Some problems associated with the use of 4Pi-recoil proportional counters as neutron spectrometers were considered including calibration, optimization of neutron-to-gamma ratios, and resolving power.