Prototype of a Neutron Detector Based on a Boron-Containing Plastic Scintillator

Britvich, G.I.; Vasil’chenko, V.G.; Gilitsky, Yu.; Chubenko, A. P.; Kushnirenko, A. E.; Mamidzhanyan, E.A.; Pavlyuchenko, V. P.; Pikalov, V. A.; Romakhin, V. A.; Soldatov, A. P.; Sumaneev, Oleg; Chernichenko, S.; Shein, I.; Shepetov, A. L.

doi:10.1023/b:inet.0000043862.12092.b0

Cited by 6 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…2 But, as nothing is perfect, PS technology presents some drawbacks such as poor sensitivity towards gamma and neutron radiation and poor energy resolution. Lithium ( 6 Li), 16,17 boron ( 10 B) [18][19][20][21] and gadolinium 22,23 were employed for thermal neutron detection due to their high capture cross-section. 1 For example, high concentrations of fluorophores successfully performed neutron/gamma discrimination which was considered unachievable years before.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the behaviour of different metals in loaded scintillators: discrepancy between gadolinium and bismuth

Bertrand¹,

Dumazert²,

Sguerra³

et al. 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C

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Organometallic chemistry has recently gained a lot of attention in the domain of plastic scintillators.Homogenously dispersed metal complexes in a polymer matrix can afford plastic scintillators with unseen abilities. Heavy atom loading is very attractive as it gives access to plastics with increased sensitivity towards elusive radiations such as gamma and neutron. But this comes with a drawback, as heavy atoms tend to quench fluorescence, hence decreasing the scintillation yield. We present here a comprehensive study of this phenomenon with bismuth and gadolinium complexes. We investigate the influence of the ligand nature by varying organometallic and fluorophore concentration to probe their interaction. We also propose an explanation of the difference in behavior between these two metals. These results were applied to the fabrication of large volume loaded plastic scintillators (4100 cm 3 ). Bismuth loaded scintillators displayed characteristics equivalent to lead loaded commercial materials, and gadolinium samples proved to be able to capture thermal neutrons and release gamma rays. of our optimization, large scale loaded PSs (4100 cm 3 ) were synthesized and characterized.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the behaviour of different metals in loaded scintillators: discrepancy between gadolinium and bismuth

Bertrand¹,

Dumazert²,

Sguerra³

et al. 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C

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“…There are published articles [3,4] where one can see the experimental energy spectra of 239 PuBe neutron sources. However, these data have the too wide energy step and therefore can cause significant systematic errors in virtual experiment, which use them without preliminary processing.…”

Section: Eejp 2 2019mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The special module contains description of neutron source. For developing of neutron source model the neutron source energy spectra from articles [3,4] were digitized. Spectra in these works have the form of a histogram with wide (data from [3]) and non-uniform (data from [4]) step of energy.…”

Section: Developing Of the Model For Fast Neutrons Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

GEANT4 Modeling Of Energy Spectrum Of Fast Neutrons Source For The Development Of Research Technique Of Heavy Scintillators

Malykhina

Lisovska

Shpagina

et al. 2019

EEJP

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The proposed work demonstrates the results of creating and investigating the mathematical model of the source of fast neutrons. Computer modeling of the energy spectrum of fast neutrons was carried out for 239PuBe neutron source. The model of the source of fast neutrons has been developed. Neutrons in this model have an energy spectrum from 100 keV to 11 MeV with 100 keV step. Simulation is performed by the Monte-Carlo method. The model carrier is a computer program developed in the C++ programming language in the Linux operating system environment, using the Geant4 toolkit. All necessary classes describing low-energy models were used for the simulation of the passage of neutrons through materials of detectors. Those take into account the elastic scattering, inelastic scattering, radiative capture and fission. We consider these processes because models of processes implemented in our software will be also used for other problems of neutrons transport, for example, for passing neutrons through various substances, and for conducting virtual laboratory works. The PhysicsList class of our program contains classes G4NeutronHPElastic, G4NeutronHPElasticData, G4NeutronHPInelastic, G4NeutronHPInelasticData, G4NeutronHPCapture, G4NeutronHPCaptureData, etc. based on the NeutronHP model for neutron interactions at low energy, as well as the neutron data library G4NDL4.5. Diagrams containing energy spectra of a source of fast neutrons modeled in two ways are presented in the paper. The analysis of the obtained energy spectra is carried out. Virtual nuclear physics experiments are carried out with the aim of testing the elaborated neutron-matter interaction model. The processes occurring in scintillator substances during the passage of fast neutrons through them, have been studied. 109 neutrons were used as primary particles emitted isotropically, and we used our simulation results of 239PuBe neutron source to describe the initial energy spectrum. The created model of 239PuBe neutron source can be used for the investigation of scintillation detectors Bi4Ge3O12, CdWO4, Gd2SiO5 and others, as well as studying their characteristics. Processes in heavy oxide scintillators substance during the registration of fast neutrons can be studied using the developed model. It is shown that for registration of the flow of neutrons from 239PuBe neutron source, using Bi4Ge3O12 or CdWO4 scintillators is more preferable. Results of the virtual nuclear physical experiments satisfy the published experimental data.

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“…For comparison, the energy dependences of these detectors are also given there; the indicated threshold absorption energy ε thr = 0.2 MeV refers to each sensor layer where γ-rays striking the entry window were detected almost simultaneously. For this energy ε thr , polystyrene light output η ≈ 8·10 3 photons per 1 MeV of absorbed energy, photon capture efficiency of the spectrally shifting fibers in polystyrene layers ω ≈ 5% [4] and quantum yield of the photocathodes of the photomultipliers p ≅ 0.2, the minimum number of photoelectrons created at the photocathode of a photomultiplier will be ν = ε thr ηωp ≅ 16. Then one can expect that the measured probability W (k) (E) will be close to the computed value.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Energy dependence of the probabilities W (k) (E) of k-fold detection of γ-rays and detection efficiency W D (E) of GSD-7 detectors with Δ c = 0.08 cm, Δ s = 0.5 cm, M = 15, ε thr = 0.2 MeV (1 -1/2W (1) , 2 -W (2) , 3 -W (3) , 4 -1/2W(4) ) and GSD-8 detectors with Δ c = 0, Δ s = 0.5 cm, M = 10, ε thr = 0.2 MeV (5 -W (1) , 6 -W(2) , 7 -W (3) , 8 -W(4) , 9 -W D ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterogeneous scintillation γ-ray detector with adjustable spectral sensitivity

2012

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Analysis has shown that the configuration of a heterogeneous scintillation detector [1] makes it possible to combine the advantages of crystalline inorganic scintillators with atomic number Z > 50 (such as NaI, CsI, and others) with high γ-ray detection efficiency, but as a rule comparatively small size (entry window area <400 cm 2 ), and plastic scintillators with comparatively low detection efficiency (Z < 10) but with record large size (entry window area ~1 m 2 [2]).The present work is a continuation of the Monte Carlo computational studies [1] of the measurement system ( Fig. 1) with a heterogeneous scintillation detector consisting of flat converting layers K i of thickness Δ c made of lead (Pb, ρ = 11.3 g/cm 3 ) and flat sensor layers D i of thickness Δ s made of polystyrene (CH 0.99 , ρ = 1.05 g/cm 3 ), i = 1, 2, ..., M. Here S(E) is the γ-ray source, and E is the energy of the γ-ray striking the entry window of the detector.The calculations took account of all processes where γ-rays interact with the working body of the detector, the transport of the fast electrons (positrons) with energy E e ≥ 0.03 MeV formed in these processes, as well as the formation of annihilation radiation and Bremsstrahlung. The computed energy dependences W D (E) of the γ-ray detection efficiency with threshold total absorbed energy in the sensor layers ε ≥ ε thr = 0.1 MeV are presented in Fig. 2 for some models of a heterogeneous scintillation detector (see Table 1) with a 30 × 40 cm entry window and the indicated composition.Data analysis showed that the spatial-functional structure studied here differs in important ways from conventional scintillation detectors: 1) the detection efficiency of a heterogeneous scintillation for high-energy γ-rays (E > 1 MeV, W D ≅ 0.2-0.5) is comparable to the corresponding NaI(Tl) detector but the absence of strict limits on the aperture (P~ 1 m 2 ) opens a possibility for creating a heterogeneous scintillation detector with record high sensitivity I = W D P~ 2·10 3 counts/(photon·cm -2 ) at comparatively low cost;2) the energy dependence of the detection efficiency W D (E) can be changed purposefully by selecting an appropriate material and thickness of the converting and sensor layers;3) the high operating speed is determined by the short de-excitation time of the scintillations in the sensor layers (~3 and ~50 nsec for sensors made of scintillating polystyrene and glass fiber, respectively); 4) oriented high-sensitivity (W D~ 0.2-0.5) γ-ray detectors with aspect ratio M(Δ c + Δ s )L -1 < 0.1 for M(Δ c + Δ s ) ≅ ≅ 3-4 cm, L ≅ P 1/2 ≅ 50-100 cm, can be created; and

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Prototype of a Neutron Detector Based on a Boron-Containing Plastic Scintillator

Cited by 6 publications

References 3 publications

Understanding the behaviour of different metals in loaded scintillators: discrepancy between gadolinium and bismuth

Understanding the behaviour of different metals in loaded scintillators: discrepancy between gadolinium and bismuth

GEANT4 Modeling Of Energy Spectrum Of Fast Neutrons Source For The Development Of Research Technique Of Heavy Scintillators

Heterogeneous scintillation γ-ray detector with adjustable spectral sensitivity

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