A new neutron scintillator based on 6Li metal sheet and ZnS(Ag) phosphor layer

A new neutron scintillator based on a 0.1 mm thick ⁶Li metal sheet close to a thin phosphor LJ-440 was investigated. The phosphorous film consists of an optically transparent 0.25 mm thin polyester film, which on one side is deposited by Ag activated ZnS, with a layer thickness of 3.25mg cm^-2. The function and properties of this new scintillator type will be described in this paper. From neutron measurements the mean light emission, the emission distribution, and the neutron detection efficiency are deduced. The pulse height channel number is calibrated to ³H energy deposited in the phosphorous layer and to the number of photons hitting the photo cathode of a standard photomultiplier (PM) tube. We measured the gamma sensitivity with the 1.1 MeV and 1.3 MeV radiation from a radioactive ⁶⁰Co source and its value is very low, if not zero. Excellent detection stability is verified by comparing continuously measured runs of one hour. For a direct comparison, measurements are also performed with the standard ⁶Li glass neutron scintillator.