Characterization of a boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillator for fast and thermal neutron detection

Bryan V. Egner; Michael Febbraro; James E. Bevins

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2021.165153

Characterization of a boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillator for fast and thermal neutron detection

Bryan V. Egner, Michael Febbraro, James E. Bevins

Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Astrophysi

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The preparation and characterization of novel boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillators (BLDLS) are presented for the first time to investigate the performance of a detector sensitive to both fast and thermal neutrons intended for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Three deuterated toluene-based scintillation cocktails were produced, one without boron, one loaded with ortho-carborane (natural boron isotopic abundance), and one with 96 wt% ¹⁰B enriched ortho-carborane. General optical and material properties were analyzed to include the composition, density, index of refraction, photoluminescence emission spectra, and absorbance spectra in addition to the relative light yield, resolution, relative efficiency, and pulse-shape-discrimination performance for all three scintillators and a hydrogen-based EJ-309 scintillator to evaluate the effects of boron loading in comparison with a common commercially-available scintillator and feasibility for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Finally, the detection of shielded neutron sources was explored to capitalize on the ¹⁰B thermal neutron capture reaction. The results showed loading the scintillators with boron deteriorated the PSD performance slightly compared to the unloaded deuterated scintillator and resulted in a relative light yield loss of 26% and 41% for the ¹⁰B enriched and natural boron BLDLS, respectively. Lastly, the BLDLS have a higher relative detection efficiency than the unloaded deuterated scintillator for shielded neutron sources, based on total count rate, a desirable characteristic for missions related to finding and characterizing illicitly-trafficked special nuclear material.

Original language	English
Article number	165153
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	996
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2021.165153
State	Published - Apr 21 2021

Funding

This research was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, United States under grant HDTRA-19-29109 and by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics , under Award Number DE-AC05-00OR22725 . The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the United States Government. This research was supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, United States under grant HDTRA-19-29109 and by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, under Award Number DE-AC05-00OR22725. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the United States Government.

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of Energy
Defense Threat Reduction Agency	HDTRA-19-29109
Office of Science
Nuclear Physics	DE-AC05-00OR22725
U.S. Air Force

Keywords

Deuterated scintillators
Neutron detection
Nuclear safeguards
Pulse-shape discrimination

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10.1016/j.nima.2021.165153

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title = "Characterization of a boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillator for fast and thermal neutron detection",

abstract = "The preparation and characterization of novel boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillators (BLDLS) are presented for the first time to investigate the performance of a detector sensitive to both fast and thermal neutrons intended for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Three deuterated toluene-based scintillation cocktails were produced, one without boron, one loaded with ortho-carborane (natural boron isotopic abundance), and one with 96 wt% 10B enriched ortho-carborane. General optical and material properties were analyzed to include the composition, density, index of refraction, photoluminescence emission spectra, and absorbance spectra in addition to the relative light yield, resolution, relative efficiency, and pulse-shape-discrimination performance for all three scintillators and a hydrogen-based EJ-309 scintillator to evaluate the effects of boron loading in comparison with a common commercially-available scintillator and feasibility for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Finally, the detection of shielded neutron sources was explored to capitalize on the 10B thermal neutron capture reaction. The results showed loading the scintillators with boron deteriorated the PSD performance slightly compared to the unloaded deuterated scintillator and resulted in a relative light yield loss of 26% and 41% for the 10B enriched and natural boron BLDLS, respectively. Lastly, the BLDLS have a higher relative detection efficiency than the unloaded deuterated scintillator for shielded neutron sources, based on total count rate, a desirable characteristic for missions related to finding and characterizing illicitly-trafficked special nuclear material.",

keywords = "Deuterated scintillators, Neutron detection, Nuclear safeguards, Pulse-shape discrimination",

author = "Egner, {Bryan V.} and Michael Febbraro and Bevins, {James E.}",

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Characterization of a boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillator for fast and thermal neutron detection. / Egner, Bryan V.; Febbraro, Michael; Bevins, James E.
In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 996, 165153, 21.04.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Characterization of a boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillator for fast and thermal neutron detection

AU - Egner, Bryan V.

AU - Febbraro, Michael

AU - Bevins, James E.

PY - 2021/4/21

Y1 - 2021/4/21

N2 - The preparation and characterization of novel boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillators (BLDLS) are presented for the first time to investigate the performance of a detector sensitive to both fast and thermal neutrons intended for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Three deuterated toluene-based scintillation cocktails were produced, one without boron, one loaded with ortho-carborane (natural boron isotopic abundance), and one with 96 wt% 10B enriched ortho-carborane. General optical and material properties were analyzed to include the composition, density, index of refraction, photoluminescence emission spectra, and absorbance spectra in addition to the relative light yield, resolution, relative efficiency, and pulse-shape-discrimination performance for all three scintillators and a hydrogen-based EJ-309 scintillator to evaluate the effects of boron loading in comparison with a common commercially-available scintillator and feasibility for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Finally, the detection of shielded neutron sources was explored to capitalize on the 10B thermal neutron capture reaction. The results showed loading the scintillators with boron deteriorated the PSD performance slightly compared to the unloaded deuterated scintillator and resulted in a relative light yield loss of 26% and 41% for the 10B enriched and natural boron BLDLS, respectively. Lastly, the BLDLS have a higher relative detection efficiency than the unloaded deuterated scintillator for shielded neutron sources, based on total count rate, a desirable characteristic for missions related to finding and characterizing illicitly-trafficked special nuclear material.

AB - The preparation and characterization of novel boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillators (BLDLS) are presented for the first time to investigate the performance of a detector sensitive to both fast and thermal neutrons intended for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Three deuterated toluene-based scintillation cocktails were produced, one without boron, one loaded with ortho-carborane (natural boron isotopic abundance), and one with 96 wt% 10B enriched ortho-carborane. General optical and material properties were analyzed to include the composition, density, index of refraction, photoluminescence emission spectra, and absorbance spectra in addition to the relative light yield, resolution, relative efficiency, and pulse-shape-discrimination performance for all three scintillators and a hydrogen-based EJ-309 scintillator to evaluate the effects of boron loading in comparison with a common commercially-available scintillator and feasibility for future neutron spectroscopy measurements. Finally, the detection of shielded neutron sources was explored to capitalize on the 10B thermal neutron capture reaction. The results showed loading the scintillators with boron deteriorated the PSD performance slightly compared to the unloaded deuterated scintillator and resulted in a relative light yield loss of 26% and 41% for the 10B enriched and natural boron BLDLS, respectively. Lastly, the BLDLS have a higher relative detection efficiency than the unloaded deuterated scintillator for shielded neutron sources, based on total count rate, a desirable characteristic for missions related to finding and characterizing illicitly-trafficked special nuclear material.

KW - Deuterated scintillators

KW - Neutron detection

KW - Nuclear safeguards

KW - Pulse-shape discrimination

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M3 - Article

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SN - 0168-9002

VL - 996

JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

M1 - 165153

ER -

Characterization of a boron-loaded deuterated liquid scintillator for fast and thermal neutron detection

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