Relative sensitivity of plastic scintillator: A comparative analysis with 60Co gamma rays, deuterium–deuterium, and deuterium–tritium neutrons

A plastic scintillator has found extensive application in the realm of high-energy physics and national security science. Many applications in those fields often involve the simultaneous production of photons, neutrons, and charged particles, which makes the relative sensitivity information for these different radiation types important. In this study, we have adopted a multi-head detector comprised of a plastic scintillator and high gain phototubes, which provides a large dynamic range and linearity. A comparative study on the relative sensitivities of plastic scintillators was facilitated by adopting three distinct radiation calibration sources (i.e., 60Co γ rays, DD neutrons, and DT neutrons). Neutrons from a DD source generate a comparable level of scintillation to gamma rays emitted by 60Co (i.e., 60Co-γ/DD-n = 0.92 ± 16%). DT neutrons induce ∼3.5 times the scintillation observed with DD neutrons (i.e., DT-n/DD-n = 3.5 ± 28%). In addition, the Geant4 simulation granted us valuable insights into the relative sensitivity of the scintillator. This comparative study will provide a useful database for users in diverse applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Review of Scientific Instruments
Published
2024-09-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0218496
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.61

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article

Relative sensitivity of plastic scintillator: A comparative analysis with 60Co gamma rays, deuterium–deuterium, and deuterium–tritium neutrons

Amber Guckes, Adam Wolverton, Y. Kim, M. Showers et al.
1 citations
Review of Scientific Instruments
Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies
0.61
article

Relative sensitivity of plastic scintillator: A comparative analysis with 60Co gamma rays, deuterium–deuterium, and deuterium–tritium neutrons

Amber Guckes, Adam Wolverton, Y. Kim, M. Showers, Matthias Hochanadel, H. J. Jorgenson, R. J. Leeper, R. H. Dwyer, B. R. White, S. H. Batha, R. Richardson, J. Andrew Green, K. D. Meaney, T. S. Perry, C. Willis, Daniel R. Lowe, M. Butcher, Thomas Schmidt, T. N. Archuleta, James Sweeney
article en
1 citations

Abstract

A plastic scintillator has found extensive application in the realm of high-energy physics and national security science. Many applications in those fields often involve the simultaneous production of photons, neutrons, and charged particles, which makes the relative sensitivity information for these different radiation types important. In this study, we have adopted a multi-head detector comprised of a plastic scintillator and high gain phototubes, which provides a large dynamic range and linearity. A comparative study on the relative sensitivities of plastic scintillators was facilitated by adopting three distinct radiation calibration sources (i.e., 60Co γ rays, DD neutrons, and DT neutrons). Neutrons from a DD source generate a comparable level of scintillation to gamma rays emitted by 60Co (i.e., 60Co-γ/DD-n = 0.92 ± 16%). DT neutrons induce ∼3.5 times the scintillation observed with DD neutrons (i.e., DT-n/DD-n = 3.5 ± 28%). In addition, the Geant4 simulation granted us valuable insights into the relative sensitivity of the scintillator. This comparative study will provide a useful database for users in diverse applications.

Review of Scientific InstrumentsVol. 95(9)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US), Los Alamos National Laboratory (US), University of New Mexico (US), Nevada National Security Site (US), Verus Research (United States) (US)
U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 32%
Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies
0.61
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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