Inorganic Scintillators for Thermal Neutron Detection

The ³ He shortage is forcing the neutron community to look for other detection methods. The inorganic scintillator may be an alternative. Thermal-neutron detection by means of inorganic scintillators has successfully been realized on a large scale at ISIS, UK, using ⁶ LiF/ZnS:Ag mixed with an organic binder. This material is now introduced in the security field. For several reasons other traditional neutron scintillators, ⁶ Li-glass:Ce and ⁶ LiI:Eu, and relatively new materials such as ⁶ Li ₆ Gd(BO ₃ ) ₃ :Ce and elpasolites like Cs ₂ LiYCl ₆ :Ce and Cs ₂ LiLaBr ₆ :Ce are hardly used or did not yet find their way to application. The same applies to more recently studied materials of the LICAF group. The pros and cons of these inorganic materials for thermal neutron detection will be discussed.