Critical Review of Scintillating Crystals for Neutron Detection

Abstract

There exists an ongoing need to develop and improve methods of detecting radioactive materials. As each radioactive isotope leaves a unique mark in a form of the particles it emits, new materials capable of detecting and measuring these particles are constantly sought. Neutrons and their detectors play a significant role in areas such as nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning and decontamination, border security, nuclear proliferation and nuclear medicine.Owing to the complexity of their detection, as well as scarcity of 3 He, which has historically been the preferred choice for neutron detection in many application fields, new sensitive materials are sought. Organic and inorganic scintillating crystals have been recognised as particularly good alternatives, and as such systems that utilise them are increasingly common. As they allow investigation of the neutron energy spectra, greater information about the radioactive source can be inferred. Therefore, in this article, an extensive review of scintillating crystals used for neutron detection is presented. By describing the history of scintillating crystals and discussing changes that occurred in their use and development of methods for radiation detection, the authors present a comprehensive overview of the current situation. Supported by a practical example, possible future directions of the research area are also presented.

Structure, Optical, and Thermal Properties of 9, 10-Diphenylanthracene Crystals

“…The ability to efficiently detect low levels of high-energy neutrons in a strong gamma ray background is crucial for nuclear non-proliferation and detection of illicit nuclear materials. Since fast neutrons strongly signify the presence of fissile materials, such as plutonium and highly-enriched uranium, their detection is very important [1]. Currently, fast neutrons are mainly detected using organic scintillator detectors, which are employed not only because of their high content of hydrogen that allows neutron detection via proton recoil, but also because of their ability to discriminate neutrons and gamma rays using pulse shape discrimination (PSD).…”

Cobalt(II) Metal-organic Framework as Scintillating Material

“…Therefore efficiently converting the energy deposited by a photon into detectable light. The Light yield efficiency of the MOF can be obtained from equation 8 [4]: η = Total energy of photons produced total energy delivered x 100 (8) The energy resolution defines the proportionality of the light yield [28] of the scintillating Co-MOF crystal. A good energy resolution is of great significance [29] in the application of the scintillation detector as expressed in equation 8, where the light yield defines spectroscopy purposes [12].…”

“…The constraints associated with practical applications of organic scintillators for neutron detection is due to their low luminosity, low photon transport, nonproportionality to mega electron volt protons and safety hazards [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new type of scintillation materials for detection [4] primarily based on their nanoporosity, ultrahigh surface areas [5], ioninduced luminescence, large internal pore volumes, and synthetically flexible structure [8][9][10]. These properties present unique advantages of MOFs for radiation detection [4] over existing organic scintillator materials [11].…”

“…Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new type of scintillation materials for detection [4] primarily based on their nanoporosity, ultrahigh surface areas [5], ioninduced luminescence, large internal pore volumes, and synthetically flexible structure [8][9][10]. These properties present unique advantages of MOFs for radiation detection [4] over existing organic scintillator materials [11]. MOFs as scintillators are utilized in molecule detectors [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], energy resource investigation [19], X-ray beam security, nuclear cameras, processed tomography [10], gas investigation, and radiation estimation and monitoring [1].…”

Scintillator Crystals: Structure, Characterization and Models for Better Performances

“…The paper by Cieślak et al [11] is a review about the crystals for the detection of radioactive materials. The necessity to detect and discriminate the different sources is fundamental for security, nuclear decommissioning, decontamination, border security, nuclear proliferation and nuclear medicine.…”