Gadolinium loaded plastic scintillators for high efficiency neutron detection

Gadolinium has the highest thermal neutron absorption cross section of any naturally occurring element, and emits conversion electrons as well as atomic X-rays in over 50% of its neutron captures, which makes it a useful dopant in scintillators for detecting thermal neutrons. Gadolinium isopropoxide was studied as a possible dopant for styrene-based plastic scintillators as a convenient and inexpensive method to produce high-efficiency thermal neutron detectors. Plastic scintillators with gadolinium weight concentrations of up to 3% were transparent, uniform and defect-free and were characterized with spectral measurements performed under x-ray and neutron irradiation. The new material has the same characteristic emission of styrene with a maximum at approximately 425 nm, and a light output of 76% relative to the undoped plastic. A 13 mm thick sample containing 0.5% gadolinium by weight detected 46% of incident thermal neutrons, which makes this an attractive material for a variety of applications.