We describe a beta electron spectrometer for use in an upcoming experiment that will measure the beta-antineutrino correlation coefficient (a-coefficient) in neutron beta decay. Electron energy is measured by a thick plastic scintillator detector. A conical array of plastic scintillator veto detectors is used to suppress events where the electron backscattered. A Monte Carlo simulation of this device in the configuration of the a-coefficient experiment is presented. The design, construction, and testing of a full-scale prototype device is described. We discuss the performance of this spectrometer with respect to its suitability for the experiment.
@article{arxiv.nucl-ex/0401024,
title = {A Backscatter-Suppressed Beta Spectrometer for Neutron Decay Studies},
author = {F. E. Wietfeldt and C. Trull and R. Anderman and F. B. Bateman and M. S. Dewey and A. Komives and A. K. Thompson and S. Balashov and Yu. Mostovoy},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:nucl-ex/0401024},
year = {2009}
}