Composite neutron gamma detector

Abstract

In recent years, a number of new inorganic scintillating materials have been discovered that offer simultaneous thermal neutron and gamma ray detection. One of the first such scintillators is Cs2LiYCl6 (CLYC) [1], which offers (1) efficient thermal neutron detection (2 x higher cross section than 3He at 10 atmospheres); and (2) excellent separation between gamma and neutron events (>10−7). However, the cost of the new single-crystal scintillators is still relatively high, compared to traditional scintillators, such as NaI and CsI. Significant progress in the development of organic scintillators with neutron and gamma sensitivity has also been recently achieved [2]. They have very low production cost, but have relatively low detection and photopeak efficiencies due to the low density and low-Z constituents. They also do not provide thermal neutron detection.