Evaluation of new Li2CaSiO4:Eu/ scintillation plastic phoswich for combined alpha-beta and gamma-neutron detectors

Abstract

A phoswich-type detector element based on a new light inorganic scintillation material, Li₂CaSiO₄:Eu²⁺, and a plastic scintillator, EJ-200, was evaluated for separation of signals of neutrons, β-, α-particles and γ-rays. It has been shown that the use of scintillators in a phoswich with a quite large difference in the scintillation kinetics, by two orders of magnitude, despite the effect of excitation of inorganic material luminescence by scintillation of plastic, provides reliable discrimination of signals from the layers of the phoswich detector. The developed approach to constructing a detecting element can find applications for discrimination of α- and β-particles, as well as neutrons and γ-rays in combined α/β and γ-neutron detectors for radiometry and dosimetry. The separation of signals and measurement of the response when recording interaction products in the reverse β-decay reaction are of particular interest.