Characterization of a liquid scintillator based on linear alkyl benzene for neutron detection

A liquid scintillator (LS) based on linear alkyl benzene (LAB) solvent has been characterized using multiple radiation sources. The results confirm that boron-loaded LAB is suitable for neutron detection in a gamma ray environment. To study indirectly the LAB pulse shape discrimination (PSD) capability between neutrons and gamma rays, a dissolved 212Pb source emitting alpha and beta particles was used to emulate the conditions in a mixed radiation field for detecting neutrons in the presence of a high gamma ray background. The quenching factor depends on the alpha energy and increases from 10 to 25 as the alpha energy decreases from 10 to 1 MeV. 10B loaded LAB-based LS has been tested in a neutron beam of energy which is equal to 14.56 meV. The observed peak at 60 keVee is attributed to the absorption of neutrons. Our results show that a boron-loaded LAB-based scintillator is a sensitive medium for neutron detection in a relatively large background of gamma rays. A neutron detector could be achieved with a figure of merit (FOM) of 1.75.