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Title: Bismuth- and lithium-loaded plastic scintillators for gamma and neutron detection

Journal Article · · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
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  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Eljen Technology, Sweetwater, TX (United States)

In this paper, transparent plastic scintillators based on polyvinyltoluene (PVT) have been fabricated with high loading of bismuth carboxylates for gamma spectroscopy, and with lithium carboxylates for neutron detection. When activated with a combination of standard fluors, 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) and tetraphenylbutadiene (TPB), gamma light yields with 15 wt% bismuth tripivalate of 5000 Ph/MeV are measured. A PVT plastic formulation including 30 wt% lithium pivalate and 30 wt% PPO offers both pulse shape discrimination, and a neutron capture peak at ~400 keVee. Finally, in another configuration, a bismuth-loaded PVT plastic is coated with ZnS(6Li) paint, permitting simultaneous gamma and neutron detection via pulse shape discrimination with a figure-of-merit of 3.8, while offering gamma spectroscopy with energy resolution of R(662 keV)=15%.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1438692
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1245661
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-663264; TRN: US1900488
Journal Information:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 778; ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 70 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (5)

High-Z Sensitized Plastic Scintillators: A Review journal May 2018
Evaluation of polyvinyl toluene scintillators for fast neutron imaging journal August 2018
The crystal structure of bis{3,5-difluoro-2-[4-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)pyridin-2-yl]phenyl}(picolinato)iridium(III) and its 4- tert -butylpyridin-2-yl analogue journal September 2018
Optimization of the Charge Comparison Method for Multiradiation Field Using Various Measurement Systems journal April 2020
Pseudo-gamma Spectrometry in Plastic Scintillators book May 2017

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