TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermal neutron detection with Ce3 doped LiCaAlF6 single crystals
AU - Iwanowska, Joanna
AU - Swiderski, Lukasz
AU - Moszynski, Marek
AU - Yanagida, Takayuki
AU - Yokota, Yuui
AU - Yoshikawa, Akira
AU - Fukuda, Kentaro
AU - Kawaguchi, Noriaki
AU - Ishizu, Sumito
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Research , Contract no. 14360 and by EU Structural Funds Project no POIG.01.01.02-14-012/08-00 and by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education , Grant no. 657/W-IAEA/2010/0 .
PY - 2011/10/1
Y1 - 2011/10/1
N2 - Cerium-doped LiCaAlF6 (Ce:LiCAF) crystals have been studied as scintillators in application to thermal neutron detection. Three crystals: high-doping Ce:LiCAF, low-doping Ce:LiCAF with 50% enrichment of 6Li (both 10 mm×10 mm×2 mm, rectangular) and high-doping Ce:LiCAF with 95% enrichment of 6Li (Ø50.8 mm×2 mm, discus) coupled to Photonis XP5300B PMT, were tested. The response of these crystals to neutrons emitted from a paraffin moderated 238PuBe source has been investigated. Thermal neutron peaks have been found at a Gamma Equivalent Energy (GEE) of ∼2.5 MeV for high-doping Ce:LiCAF (50% 6Li), ∼2 MeV for low-doping Ce:LiCAF (50% 6Li) and ∼1.9 MeV for high-doping Ce:LiCAF (95% 6Li). The light output of Ce:LiCAF was also measured (175250 phe/MeV from sample to sample). Lithium-6 glass GS20 from Saint Gobain was used as a reference scintillator (Ø50 mm×2 mm, circle). Relative neutron efficiency, normalized to that of GS20 lithium glass, as well as gamma-neutron intrinsic efficiency for all tested samples was calculated. Intrinsic efficiency on thermal neutron detection for small Ce:LiCAF samples was estimated at about 3235% of that of GS20 and for large Ce:LiCAF sample as about 82% of that of GS20.
AB - Cerium-doped LiCaAlF6 (Ce:LiCAF) crystals have been studied as scintillators in application to thermal neutron detection. Three crystals: high-doping Ce:LiCAF, low-doping Ce:LiCAF with 50% enrichment of 6Li (both 10 mm×10 mm×2 mm, rectangular) and high-doping Ce:LiCAF with 95% enrichment of 6Li (Ø50.8 mm×2 mm, discus) coupled to Photonis XP5300B PMT, were tested. The response of these crystals to neutrons emitted from a paraffin moderated 238PuBe source has been investigated. Thermal neutron peaks have been found at a Gamma Equivalent Energy (GEE) of ∼2.5 MeV for high-doping Ce:LiCAF (50% 6Li), ∼2 MeV for low-doping Ce:LiCAF (50% 6Li) and ∼1.9 MeV for high-doping Ce:LiCAF (95% 6Li). The light output of Ce:LiCAF was also measured (175250 phe/MeV from sample to sample). Lithium-6 glass GS20 from Saint Gobain was used as a reference scintillator (Ø50 mm×2 mm, circle). Relative neutron efficiency, normalized to that of GS20 lithium glass, as well as gamma-neutron intrinsic efficiency for all tested samples was calculated. Intrinsic efficiency on thermal neutron detection for small Ce:LiCAF samples was estimated at about 3235% of that of GS20 and for large Ce:LiCAF sample as about 82% of that of GS20.
KW - Intrinsic gamma-neutron detection efficiency
KW - Neutron detection
KW - Neutron/gamma discrimination
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U2 - 10.1016/j.nima.2010.09.182
DO - 10.1016/j.nima.2010.09.182
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80052921597
SN - 0168-9002
VL - 652
SP - 319
EP - 322
JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
IS - 1
ER -