Pulse-shape discrimination of scintillation from alpha and beta particles with liquid scintillator and Geiger-mode multipixel avalanche diodes

摘要

A successfull application of Geiger-mode multipixel avalanche diodes (GMAPDs)for pulse-shape discrimination in alpha-beta spectrometry using organic liquidscintillator is described in this paper. Efficient discrimination of alpha andbeta components in the emission of radioactive isotopes is achieved for alphaenergies above 0.3 MeV. The ultra-compact design of the scintillating detectorhelps to efficiently suppress cosmic-ray and ambient radiation background. Thisapproach allows construction of hand-held robust devices for monitoring ofradioactive contamination in various environmental conditions.