Slow scintillation time constants in NaI(Tl) for different interacting particles

• Published in: Optical materials Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 316 - 320
• Main Authors: Cuesta, C., Oliván, M.A., Amaré, J., Cebrián, S., García, E., Ginestra, C., Martínez, M., Ortigoza, Y., Ortiz de Solórzano, A., Pobes, C., Puimedón, J., Sarsa, M.L., Villar, J.A., Villar, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier B.V 01.12.2013; Elsevier
• Subjects: Crystals; Dark matter; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Low radioactive background; Optical materials; Optics; Physics; Scintillation; Searching; Sodium iodide; Thallium; Time constant; Underground; Underground laboratory; Scintillation; Low radioactive background; Underground laboratory; Sodium iodide; Scintillations; Photoinduced effect; Optical materials; ms range
• ISSN: 0925-3467; 1873-1252
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2013.09.015

•Scintillation time constants in NaI(Tl) from ns up to 300ms have been studied.•Slow scintillation strong dependence on the exciting particle is reported.•Four crystals have been characterized showing similar, but not the same, behavior. Very large thallium doped sodium iodide crystals operated underground and in very low background environment in the context of a dark matter search experiment have been used to determine scintillation components in the tens of ms range in the light pulse induced by different interacting particles: γ/μ and α.