Growth and characterization of SrCl2 crystal for fast neutron spectroscopy

초록

Chlorine-based scintillators with pulse shape discrimination capability are becoming attractive in the community due to their potential application in fast neutron spectroscopy. In this study, a pure SrCl2 crystal was grown using the Bridgman method and characterized for its fast neutron detection via 35Cl(n,p)35S and 35Cl(n,alpha)32P reactions. The difference in the scintillation decay time under gamma and alpha irradiation was investigated using 137Cs and 241Am sources. Consequently, using pulse shape discrimination techniques, the proton and alpha particles from neutron capture reactions were detected and separated from background gamma signals. The SrCl2 also exhibited a good energy resolution of about 5.4 % at 662 keVee. Other scintillation properties, such as emission spectrum, light yield, and nonproportionality, are also measured and reported in this study. Overal, the SrCl2 crystal can be a candidate for fast neutron spectroscopy applications.

키워드