A New Scintillator for Fast Neutron Detection: Single-Crystal

摘要

A new scintillator material for the detection of fast neutrons that consists of a methanol adduct of cerium trichloride with the composition ${rm CeCl}_{3}({rm CH}_{3}{rm OH})_{4}$ has been characterized using 14.1 MeV neutrons from a deuterium-tritium neutron generator and fast neutrons from a bare instrumented $^{252}{rm Cf}$ source. The timing resolution of the scintillator for fast neutrons was found to be ${sim 1}~{rm ns}$. Neutron interactions in the ${rm CeCl}_{3}({rm CH}_{3}{rm OH})_{4}$ composition were simulated using the MCNP-PoliMi code. These simulations indicate that proton recoils account for most of the deposited energy in ${rm CeCl}_{3}({rm CH}_{3}{rm OH})_{4}$. The crystalline molecular adduct ${rm CeCl}_{3}({rm CH}_{3}{rm OH})_{4}$ represents a rare-earth metal-organic scintillator that can be applied to both fast neutron and gamma-ray detection.