Solution growth and scintillation properties of novel organic neutron detectors

Crystals of 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA) were grown from a saturated xylene solution at 35 °C. Lithium-salicylate (LiSal) was grown from water. Radioluminescence spectra of DPA and LiSal exhibit a broad emission band peaking at 425 and 467 nm, respectively. DPA crystals show high light yields of up to 20,000 ph/MeV and fast scintillation with a decay time of about 12 ns. LiSal has a light yield of about 3000 Ph/MeV and a scintillation decay time of about 18 ns. Effective n-γ PSD was achieved with DPA using a Am/Be source.