Growth and scintillation properties of LiBr/CeBr <sub>3</sub> eutectic scintillator for neutron detection
Ryuga Yajima, Kei Kamada, Yui Takizawa, Masao Yoshino, Kyoung Jin Kim, Vladimir V. Kochurikhin, Akihiro Yamaji, Shunsuke Kurosawa, Yuui Yokota, Hiroki Sato, Satoshi Toyoda, Yuji Ohashi, Takashi Hanada, Akira Yoshikawa
Abstract
Abstract A 6 LiBr/CeBr 3 eutectic thermal-neutron scintillator, with a high 6 Li concentration, was developed using the vertical Bridgman method. The grown eutectic contained an 6 Li molar ratio of 35%, which is higher than those of the commercial neutron scintillators such as Ce:LiCaAlF6 and Ce:Cs 2 LiYCl6. Furthermore, it showed optical transparency and a lamellar eutectic structure elongating along the growth direction. The synthesized eutectic showed emission peaks at 360 and 380 nm, originating from the Ce 3+ 5d-4f transition in the CeBr 3 scintillation phase. The scintillation performance of 6 LiBr/CeBr 3 was evaluated under X-ray, γ -ray, and neutron irradiation to corroborate its neutron detection potential.