Optimizing the Quantitative Composition of Scintillation Additives of Tellurium-Loaded Plastic Scintillators

The authors describe optimization of the composition of a polystyrene-based tellurium-loaded plastic scintillator for experiments on the search for neutrinoless double beta decay. 2,5-diphenyloxazole and 1,4-bis(5-phenyloxazol-2-yl)benzene are used as a scintillation additive and a spectrum shifter, respectively. Tellurium-containing additive is a complex compound of diphenyltellurium oxide with di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid in a concentration corresponding to a tellurium content of 1%. The light yield and transparency of the scintillators are measured.