Title :
Inorganic Scintillators for Thermal Neutron Detection
Author :
Van Eijk, Carel W E
Author_Institution :
Delft Univ. of Technol., Delft, Netherlands
Abstract :
The 3He shortage is forcing the neutron community to look for other detection methods. The inorganic scintillator may be an alternative. Thermal-neutron detection by means of inorganic scintillators has successfully been realized on a large scale at ISIS, UK, using 6LiF/ZnS:Ag mixed with an organic binder. This material is now introduced in the security field. For several reasons other traditional neutron scintillators, 6Li-glass:Ce and 6LiI:Eu, and relatively new materials such as 6Li6 Gd(BO3 )3 :Ce and elpasolites like Cs2 LiYCl6 :Ce and Cs2 LiLaBr6 :Ce are hardly used or did not yet find their way to application. The same applies to more recently studied materials of the LICAF group. The pros and cons of these inorganic materials for thermal neutron detection will be discussed.
Keywords :
neutron detection; solid scintillation detectors; 3He shortage; ISIS; LICAF group; UK; elpasolites; inorganic materials; inorganic scintillators; neutron scintillators; organic binder; security field; thermal neutron detection; Crystals; Detectors; Gamma rays; Helium; Neutrons; Security; Inorganic scintillators; thermal neutron detection;
Journal_Title :
Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TNS.2012.2186154