Detecting fast and thermal neutrons with a boron loaded liquid scintillator, EJ-339A

F Pino; L Stevanato; D Cester; G Nebbia; L Sajo-Bohus; G Viesti

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.05.025

Detecting fast and thermal neutrons with a boron loaded liquid scintillator, EJ-339A

Appl Radiat Isot. 2014 Sep:92:6-11. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.05.025. Epub 2014 Jun 9.

Authors

F Pino¹, L Stevanato², D Cester², G Nebbia³, L Sajo-Bohus⁴, G Viesti²

Affiliations

¹ Laboratorio de Física Nuclear, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Apartado 89000, 1080 A Caracas, Venezuela. Electronic address: felixpino@gmail.com.
² Dipartimento di Fisica ed Astronomia dell'Università di Padova, Via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
³ INFN Sezione di Padova, Via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
⁴ Laboratorio de Física Nuclear, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Apartado 89000, 1080 A Caracas, Venezuela.

PMID: 24972161
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.05.025

Abstract

A commercial boron-loaded liquid scintillator EJ-339 A was studied, using a (252)Cf source with/without polyethylene moderator, to examine the possibility of discriminating slow-neutron induced events in (10)B from fast-neutron events, resulting from proton recoils, and gamma-ray events. Despite the strong light quenching associated with neutron induced events in (10)B, correct classification of these events is shown to be possible with the aid of digital signal processing.

Keywords: Boron-loaded liquid scintillator; Digital signal processing; Homeland-security applications.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't