Growth and scintillation properties of LiBr/CeBr3 eutectic scintillator for neutron detection

Abstract

Abstract The 6LiBr/CeBr3 eutectic scintillator for thermal neutron detection has been developed due to achieving high 6Li concentration. The eutectics were grown by vertical Bridgman method. Molar ratio of 6Li in 6LiBr/CeBr3 eutectic is 35 %, which is higher than that of commercial neutron scintillators such Ce:LiCaAlF6 and Ce:Cs2LiYCl6. The grown eutectic had lamellar-type eutectic structure extending along the growth direction and optical transparency. The grown eutectics showed an emission peak at 360 and 380 nm ascribed to Ce3+ 4f-5d transition from CeBr3 scintillation phase. The measurements of scintillation performance of the 6LiBr/CeBr3 were performed using x-ray, gamma-ray and neutron irradiation to evaluate its potential as a neutron scintillator.