Measurement and simulation of the neutron response of the Nordball liquid scintillator array

The response of the liquid scintillator array Nordball to neutrons in the energy range 1.5 < T_n < 10 MeV has been measured by time of flight using a 252Cf fission source. Fission fragments were detected by means of a thin-film plastic scintillator. The measured differential and integral neutron detection efficiencies agree well with predictions of a Monte Carlo simulation of the detector which models geometry accurately and incorporates the measured, non-linear proton light output as a function of energy. The ability of the model to provide systematic corrections to photoneutron cross sections, measured by Nordball at low energy, is tested in a measurement of the two-body deuteron photodisintegration cross section in the range E_gamma=14-18 MeV. After correction the present 2H(gamma,n)p measurements agree well with a published evaluation of the large body of 2H(gamma,p)n data.