Abstract
Intentionally doped LiCaAlF6 (LiCAF) single crystals are prospective scintillators, especially for thermal neutron detection through the 6Li(n,t)4He nuclear reaction. Four different LiCAF scintillator samples were tested in various neutron and gamma fields. Two of the tested samples were LiCAF:Eu and LiCAF:Eu,Na single crystals, and another two samples were made of LiCAF:Eu micro crystals dispersed in transparent rubber, with different rubber dimensions. All LiCAF samples contain lithium enriched to[Formula: see text]Li. A plutonium–beryllium source was used as a neutron source. The neutron spectrum was modified by moderator and filter to get different ratios between thermal, epithermal and fast neutron fluence rates. The MCNP code was used for calculations of the fluence rates for different configurations. Radionuclides [Formula: see text]Cs and [Formula: see text]Co were applied as gamma radiation sources. The light signal from the scintillator was evaluated with a photomultiplier and a multichannel analyzer. The purpose of this work was to study the characteristics of LiCAF scintillators, especially the ability to discriminate signals from neutron and gamma radiation, which is the basic scintillator condition for neutron detection in mixed neutron-gamma radiation fields. Generally, the discrimination can be done by the pulse height and/or the pulse shape of the evaluated signals. Both methods can be used for a LiCAF scintillator. However, only the pulse height discrimination method is discussed in this paper. The possibility of fast neutron detection with LiCAF scintillators was also tested.
Highlights
Scintillators containing lithium are usually used for thermal neutron detection through the 6Li(n,t)4He nuclear reaction
Four LiCAF samples were used for the measurement purchased from Tokuyama Co
The first two samples were LiCAF:Eu and LiCAF:Eu,Na single crystals with dimensions of 10 mm x 10 mm x 1 mm, and another two samples were made of LiCAF:Eu micro crystals dispersed in transparent rubber, with different rubber dimensions of 10 mm x 10 mm x 1 mm and 10 mm x 10 mm x 5 mm
Summary
Scintillators containing lithium are usually used for thermal neutron detection through the 6Li(n,t)4He nuclear reaction. The most common scintillator for this purpose is LiI:Eu. Intentionally doped LiCaAlF6 (LiCAF) single crystals are prospective scintillators for thermal neutron detection.[1,2,3] Compared with LiI:Eu, they are not hygroscopic but they have a relative lower content of lithium. Four different LiCAF scintillator samples were tested in various neutron and gamma fields. The purpose of this work was to study the characteristics of LiCAF scintillators, especially the ability to discriminate the signals from neutron and gamma radiation, which is the basic scintillator condition for neutron detection in mixed neutron-gamma radiation fields. The gamma-neutron discrimination can be done by the pulse height and/or the pulse shape of the evaluated signals.[4,5] Both methods can be used for a LiCAF scintillator. Only pulse height discrimination was studied by detector spectra measurements in different radiation fields. The studied detectors are to be tested and used in horizontal neutron channel beams[6] of the LVR-15 research reactor.[7]
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