Scintillator based on SiO2-aerogel

For increasing the light output of SiO2-aerogel two aerogel samples were doped with the wavelength shifter POPOP. As a result a scintillator with intermediate density between the gas and the solid state has been produced. The light pulse shapes of the both samples are well approximated by a sum of two exponents with the decay times 1.4 ± 0.1 ns (58% of total light output) and 5.2±0.4 ns (42%). Under irradiation of 5.5 MeV α-particles the light output of the sample with smaller wavelength shifter concentration was 30% and that of the sample with larger concentration was 8% of the light output of a plastic scintillator (polysterene, 2% paraterphenil, 0.2% POPOP). The obtained data indicate that the αβ ratio for both samples is close to 1. This material can be used in experiments where the amount of substance in the way of particles to be detected is a critical factor.