A few days ago, Chen Yanwei, Deputy Director of the Institute of High Energy Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IHEP) and Director of Dongguan Branch of IHEP visited the Institute of Science and Technology Innovation, along with Ma Hongwei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of DGUT and President of the University, and Li Wenfang, Vice President of the University. They visited the advanced detector laboratory and had in-depth discussions on further strengthening cooperation and the operation and management of the multi-physics spectrometer. Among those who participated in this exchange were Liang Tianjiao, Deputy Director of Dongguan Branch of IHEP, Yin Wen and Sun Zhijia, deputy directors of Neutron Science Department, Fan Hongbo, Director of the Science and Technology Department of DGUT, Zhou Zirong, Dean of the Institute of Science and Technology Innovation, and Xia Nengli and Wei Yazong, deputy directors.

Chen Yanwei and his team visited the laboratory and reviewed the special automation equipment for neutron detector engineering, such as wave-shift fiber processing, grinding and alignment integrated machine, and high-precision scintillator automatic pneumatic molding machine, independently designed and developed by the laboratory, and gained a detailed understanding of the working principle and production effect. He highly appreciated the achievements made by the laboratory. The laboratory was praised for changing neutron detector development from “manual workshop” production mode to “industrialized” high-efficiency and high-precision process manufacturing, which has greatly improved the speed of detector research and development, improved the consistency of product performance, and reduced the loss of key high-value materials. The laboratory possesses the preliminary capability of neutron detector batch manufacturing. The teachers and students involved in the research and development have received excellent training, keeping in mind personnel training and scientific research.

After the visit, Chen Yanwei and Ma Hongwei held a detailed discussion. They acknowledged the achievements of cooperation in recent years and agreed to further strengthen cooperation and establish a corresponding coordination mechanism in aspects such as DGUT’s further access to large scientific installations, operation and management of multi-physics spectrometers, joint application of science and technology awards, joint undertaking of major scientific research projects, and joint promotion of the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. This has been done with the aim to give full play to the advantages of large scientific installations, better support Songshan Lake Science Town and DGUT’s discipline development, and contribute better to Dongguan’s development strategy of “advanced manufacturing + scientific and technological innovation.”

The “Advanced Detector Engineering Technology Laboratory” is a research and development platform for advanced sensor technology and key devices and leverages the Robot and Intelligent Equipment Innovation Center of the Institute of Science & Technology Innovation, DGUT. It is committed to the engineering research and development of core equipment of large national scientific devices such as China Spallation Neutron Source and Southern Advanced Photosource, breaking the dependence on import of key equipment, and exploring industrial application in civil fields. After more than 3 years of efforts by the joint R&D team, functional laboratories such as “Detector Structure and Technology,” “Electronics and Signal Processing,” and “Critical Performance Testing” have been built successively. The structure and performance of the scintillator neutron detector have been upgraded thrice, enhancing its detection accuracy and efficiency to internationally advanced levels. High-precision manufacturing technology and automatic manufacturing equipment for key components have been developed, which has greatly improved the molding efficiency and stability of wave-shifted fiber, further improving the stability of the scintillator detector. According to the requirements of China Spallation Neutron Source on engineering material stress spectrometer for the detector, the fabrication, assembly, debugging, and performance testing of the detector unit module have been completed. It is expected to be implemented in the second half of 2022, which will make it the first engineering application for this kind of neutron spectrometer detector.