Note on intrinsic resolution in liquid organic scintillators

Abstract Fluctuations in photon production in scintillator could contribute to the total energy resolution of a scintillation detector. This contribution, called intrinsic resolution (IR), is one of the factors limiting the total energy resolution in detectors based on liquid organic scintillators (LSs). There are very few experimental measurements of the IR in LSs available, and the underlying physics is not completely understood. We propose a phenomenological description of IR of LSs and systematize the data available using a single universal parameter that characterizes IR. We show that all experimental data within the model demonstrate the presence of extra smearing of energy resolution due to IR with a typical value of ≃ 2% at 1-MeV energy release. The model can be used to simulate the effect of IR in LS-based detectors.