Bismuth- and lithium-loaded plastic scintillators for gamma and neutron detection
Abstract
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%.
- Authors:
-
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Eljen Technology, Sweetwater, TX (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1438692
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1245661
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-663264
Journal ID: ISSN 0168-9002; TRN: US1900488
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-07NA27344
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 778; Journal ID: ISSN 0168-9002
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; plastic scintillator; gamma plastic; neutron plastic; neutron capture scintillator; phoswich; pulse-shape discrimination
Citation Formats
Cherepy, Nerine J., Sanner, Robert D., Beck, Patrick R., Swanberg, Erik L., Tillotson, Thomas M., Payne, Stephen A., and Hurlbut, Charles R. Bismuth- and lithium-loaded plastic scintillators for gamma and neutron detection. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2015.01.008.
Cherepy, Nerine J., Sanner, Robert D., Beck, Patrick R., Swanberg, Erik L., Tillotson, Thomas M., Payne, Stephen A., & Hurlbut, Charles R. Bismuth- and lithium-loaded plastic scintillators for gamma and neutron detection. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2015.01.008
Cherepy, Nerine J., Sanner, Robert D., Beck, Patrick R., Swanberg, Erik L., Tillotson, Thomas M., Payne, Stephen A., and Hurlbut, Charles R. 2015.
"Bismuth- and lithium-loaded plastic scintillators for gamma and neutron detection". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2015.01.008. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1438692.
@article{osti_1438692,
title = {Bismuth- and lithium-loaded plastic scintillators for gamma and neutron detection},
author = {Cherepy, Nerine J. and Sanner, Robert D. and Beck, Patrick R. and Swanberg, Erik L. and Tillotson, Thomas M. and Payne, Stephen A. and Hurlbut, Charles R.},
abstractNote = {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%.},
doi = {10.1016/j.nima.2015.01.008},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1438692},
journal = {Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment},
issn = {0168-9002},
number = ,
volume = 778,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Fri Jan 09 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
Web of Science
Works referenced in this record:
Development of organic scintillators
journal, June 1979
- Brooks, F. D.
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods, Vol. 162, Issue 1-3, p. 477-505
The development of large-area plastic gamma-ray spectrometers
conference, October 2008
- Burt, Christopher; Ramsden, David
- 2008 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging conference (2008 NSS/MIC), 2008 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record
The use of energy windowing to discriminate SNM from NORM in radiation portal monitors
journal, May 2006
- Ely, James; Kouzes, Richard; Schweppe, John
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 560, Issue 2
Evaluation of organometallics in plastic scintillators toward γ-radiation
journal, July 1964
- Sandler, S. R.; Tsou, K. C.
- The International Journal of Applied Radiation and Isotopes, Vol. 15, Issue 7
Addition of hetero-organic compounds to polystyrene
journal, December 1964
- Baroni, E. E.; Kilin, S. F.; Lebsadze, T. N.
- Soviet Atomic Energy, Vol. 17, Issue 6
Comparative studies on plastic scintillators — applications to low energy high rate photon detection
journal, November 1974
- Eriksson, L. A.; Tsai, C. M.; Cho, Z. H.
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods, Vol. 122, p. 373-376
New heavy plastic scintillators
journal, January 2000
- Britvich, G. I.; Vasil’chenko, V. G.; Lapshin, V. G.
- Instruments and Experimental Techniques, Vol. 43, Issue 1
Bismuth-loaded plastic scintillators for gamma-ray spectroscopy
journal, January 2012
- Rupert, B. L.; Cherepy, N. J.; Sturm, B. W.
- EPL (Europhysics Letters), Vol. 97, Issue 2
Bismuth-loaded plastic scintillators for gamma spectroscopy and neutron active interrogation
conference, October 2012
- Cherepy, N. J.; Sanner, R. D.; Tillotson, T. M.
- 2012 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (2012 NSS/MIC), 2012 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Record (NSS/MIC)
Plastic scintillators with efficient neutron/gamma pulse shape discrimination
journal, March 2012
- Zaitseva, Natalia; Rupert, Benjamin L.; PaweŁczak, Iwona
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 668, p. 88-93
Characterization of a 6Li-loaded liquid organic scintillator for fast neutron spectrometry and thermal neutron detection
journal, July 2013
- Bass, C. D.; Beise, E. J.; Breuer, H.
- Applied Radiation and Isotopes, Vol. 77
Transparent lithium loaded plastic scintillators for thermal neutron detection
journal, February 2013
- Breukers, R. D.; Bartle, C. M.; Edgar, A.
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 701, p. 58-61
Pulse shape discrimination with lithium-containing organic scintillators
journal, November 2013
- Zaitseva, Natalia; Glenn, Andrew; Paul Martinez, H.
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 729, p. 747-754
Discrimination methods between neutron and gamma rays for boron loaded plastic scintillators
journal, May 2002
- Normand, Stéphane; Mouanda, Brigitte; Haan, Serge
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 484, Issue 1-3, p. 342-350
Development of Cs2LiYCl6 scintillator
journal, September 2013
- Glodo, J.; Hawrami, R.; Shah, K. S.
- Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 379, p. 73-78
Neutron detection and identification using ZnS:Ag/6LiF in segmented antineutrino detectors
journal, October 2011
- Kiff, Scott D.; Bowden, Nathaniel; Lund, Jim
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 652, Issue 1, p. 412-416
Pulse shape discrimination in the plastic scintillator EJ-299-33
journal, September 2013
- Pozzi, S. A.; Bourne, M. M.; Clarke, S. D.
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 723
Digital techniques for n/γ pulse shape discrimination and capture-gated neutron spectroscopy using liquid scintillators
journal, January 2004
- Jastaniah, S. D.; Sellin, P. J.
- Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 517, Issue 1-3
Works referencing / citing this record:
High-Z Sensitized Plastic Scintillators: A Review
journal, May 2018
- Hajagos, Tibor Jacob; Liu, Chao; Cherepy, Nerine J.
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 27
Evaluation of polyvinyl toluene scintillators for fast neutron imaging
journal, August 2018
- Chuirazzi, William C.; Oksuz, Ibrahim; Kandlakunta, Praneeth
- Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Vol. 318, Issue 1
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
- Sanner, Robert D.; Young, Victor G.
- Acta Crystallographica Section E Crystallographic Communications, Vol. 74, Issue 10
Optimization of the Charge Comparison Method for Multiradiation Field Using Various Measurement Systems
journal, April 2020
- Lynde, C.; Montbarbon, E.; Hamel, M.
- IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 67, Issue 4
Pseudo-gamma Spectrometry in Plastic Scintillators
book, May 2017
- Hamel, Matthieu; Carrel, Frédérick
- New Insights on Gamma Rays