A First Comparison of the responses of a He4-based fast-neutron detector and a NE-213 liquid-scintillator reference detector
R. Jebali🇬🇧 · J. Scherzinger · J.R.M. Annand🇬🇧 · R. Chandra🇮🇳 · G. Davatz · K.G. Fissum🇸🇪 · H. Friederich · U. Gendotti · R. Hall-Wilton🇸🇪 · E. Håkansson · K. Kanaki🇸🇪 · M. Lundin and 4 other authors
A first comparison has been made between the pulse-shape discrimination characteristics of a novel He-based pressurized scintillation detector and a NE-213 liquid-scintillator reference detector using an Am/Be mixed-field neutron and gamma-ray source and a high-resolution scintillation-pulse digitizer. In particular, the capabilities of the two fast neutron detectors to discriminate between neutrons and gamma-rays were investigated. The NE-213 liquid-scintillator reference cell produced a wide range of scintillation-light yields in response to the gamma-ray field of the source. In stark contrast, due to the size and pressure of the He gas volume, the He-based detector registered a maximum scintillation-light yield of 750~keV to the same gamma-ray field. Pulse-shape discrimination for particles with scintillation-light yields of more than 750~keV was excellent in the case of the He-based detector. Above 750~keV its signal was unambiguously neutron, enabling particle identification based entirely upon the amount of scintillation light produced.