Scintillation properties of neutron detection crystals Li6RE(BO3)3:Ce3+ (RE=Lu,Y)

Scintillators consisting of ⁶Li or ¹⁰B are widely applied in neutron detection. In this paper, two kinds of promising scintillators Li₆Lu(BO₃)₃ and Li₆Y(BO₃)₃ -doped with Ce crystals were researched, both of them have the thermal neutron transfer elements ⁶Li and ¹⁰B. To study their properties, the scintillators were irradiated with gamma rays and alpha rays independently. Define the light yield of standard reference sample ⁶Li-glass as 100%. Then, for gamma rays excitation, Li₆Lu(BO₃)₃ and Li₆Y(BO₃)₃ all have light yield of 173%; their luminescence decay times mainly concentrate at 22 ns and 49 ns, respectively. For alpha rays excitation, Li₆Lu(BO₃)₃ and Li₆Y(BO₃)₃ have that of 52% and 25%, respectively; their luminescence decay times mainly concentrate at 30 ns and 22 ns, respectively. The results show that Li₆Re(BO₃)₃ (Re=Lu, Y) are fast scintillators, and have considerable light yield.