Abstract–Alternatives to 3He are being investigated for gamma-ray insensitive neutron detection applications, including plutonium assay. One promising material is lithium-6 fluoride with silver activated zinc sulfide 6LiF/ZnS(Ag) in conjunction with a wavelength shifting plastic. Doping the 6LiF/ZnS(Ag) with nickel (Ni) has been proposed as a means of reducing the decay time of neutron signal pulses. This research performed a pulse shape comparison between Ni-doped and non-doped 6LiF/ZnS(Ag) neutron pulses. The Ni-doped 6LiF/ZnS(Ag) had a 32.7% ± 0.3 increase in neutron pulse height and a 32.4% ± 0.3 decrease in neutron pulse time compared to the non-doped 6LiF/ZnS(Ag). Doping 6LiF/ZnS(Ag) with nickel may allow neutron detector operation with improved signal to noise ratios, and reduced pulse pileup affects, increasing the accuracy and range of source activities with which such a detector could operate.
Revised: December 2, 2016 |
Published: October 6, 2016
Citation
Cowles C.C., R.S. Behling, G.R. Imel, R.T. Kouzes, A. Lintereur, S.M. Robinson, and S.C. Stave, et al. 2016.Pulse-Shape Analysis of Neutron-Induced Scintillation Light in Ni-doped 6LiF/ZnS. In Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC 2015), October 31-November 7, 2015, San Diego, California. Piscataway, New Jersey:IEEE.PNNL-SA-114811.doi:10.1109/NSSMIC.2015.7581914