Characterization of stilbene-d12 for neutron spectroscopy without time of flight

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Vol. 1018; p. 165822
• Main Authors: Gaughan, N., Zhou, J., Becchetti, F.D., Torres-Isea, R.O., Febbraro, M., Zaitseva, N., Altmann, Y., Di Fulvio, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier B.V 01.12.2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Deuterated scintillators; INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; Neutron spectroscopy; Scintillation detector; Spectral unfolding; Spectral unfolding; Scintillation detector; Deuterated scintillators; Neutron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2021.165822

We have experimentally characterized the light-output response of a deuterated trans-stilbene (stilbene-d12) crystal to quasi-monoenergetic neutrons in the 0.8 to 4.4 MeV energy range. These data allowed us to perform neutron spectroscopy measurements of a DT 14.1 MeV source and a 239PuBe source by unfolding the impinging neutron spectrum from the measured light-output response. The stilbene-d12 outperforms a 1H−stilbene of similar size when comparing the shape of the unfolded spectra and the reference ones. These results confirm the viability of non-hygroscopic stilbene-d12 crystal for direct neutron spectroscopy without need for time-of-flight measurements. This capability makes stilbene-d12 a well suited detector for fast-neutron spectroscopy in many applications including nuclear reaction studies, radiation protection, nuclear non-proliferation, and space travel.