Features of using Cs2LiYCl6:Ce based scintillation detector for time-of-flight application

Abstract

A detailed study was made of the systematic uncertainties that arise when a constant fraction method is used for the timing analysis of the signals from a Cs2LiYCl 6:Ce-based detector. It is shown that there is a systematic difference in the rise time of the signals corresponding to the different types of particles. This difference leads to a systematic shift of the timestamp when the constant fraction algorithm is used for timing analysis. The value of the shift of the timestamps between signals corresponding to γ-rays and 6Li(n,t)4He reaction products reaches ∼3.6 ns at neutron energy of 0.6 MeV and ∼2.2 ns for neutron energy of 7.0 MeV. This shift can lead to a significant distortion of the measured results when the position of the prompt γ-rays peak is used to calibrate the time scale of the spectrometer. On the example of some previously obtained results it is shown that the data distortions can be explained by an uncompensated shift in the timestamp.