Balibrea-Correa, JavierCaamaño Fresco, ManuelDurán Escribano, IgnacioFernández Domínguez, BeatrizŽugec, Petar C.2026-03-132026-03-132024-11-30Balibrea-Correa, Babiano-Suarez, Lerendegui-Marco, Domingo-Pardo, Ladarescu, Tarifeño-Saldivia, de la Fuente-Rosales, Gameiro, Zaitseva, Alcayne, Cano-Ott, González-Romero, Martínez, Mendoza, de Rada, A. P., del Olmo, J. P., Sánchez-Caballero, Casanovas, Calviño, et al. (2025). Towards a new generation of solid total-energy detectors for neutron-capture time-of-flight experiments with intense neutron beams. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1072. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.NIMA.2024.170110https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46371Challenging neutron-capture cross-section measurements of small cross sections and samples with a very limited number of atoms require high-flux time-of-flight facilities. In turn, such facilities need innovative detection setups that are fast, have low sensitivity to neutrons, can quickly recover from the so-called γ-flash, and offer the highest possible detection sensitivity. In this paper, we present several steps towards such advanced systems. Specifically, we describe the performance of a high-sensitivity experimental setup at CERN n_TOF EAR2. It consists of nine sTED detector modules in a compact cylindrical configuration, two conventional used large-volume C6D6 detectors, and one LaCl3(Ce) detector. The performance of these detection systems is compared using 93Nb(n, γ) data. We also developed a detailed GEANT4 Monte Carlo model of the experimental EAR2 setup, which allows for a better understanding of the detector features, including their efficiency determination. This Monte Carlo model has been used for further optimization, thus leading to a new conceptual design of a γ detector array, STAR, based on a deuterated-stilbene crystal array. Finally, the suitability of deuterated-stilbene crystals for the future STAR array is investigated experimentally utilizing a small stilbene-d12 prototype. The results suggest a similar or superior performance of STAR with respect to other setups based on liquid-scintillators, and allow for additional features such as neutron-gamma discrimination and a higher level of customization capability.eng© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND licenseAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/High sensitivityHybrid setupNeutron captureStilbene-d12Γ-ray detectorsjournal article2025-12-0410.1016/J.NIMA.2024.1701100168-9002open access