Development of liquid scintillators based on mixed-organic solvents containing ⁶Li for neutron detection

Neutron detectors have diverse applications in exploring natural resources and in security systems. Because there is an increased demand for neutron detectors based on ³He proportional counters, and ³He shortage is a concern. Hence, an alternative approach for large-scale detectors is necessary In this work, as an alternative to the ³He proportional counters, we propose a simple method of fabricating liquid scintillators for neutron detection with mixed-organic solvents containing ⁶Li as liquid scintillators. ⁶LiCl and the phosphors, DPO and POPOP, were added to a mixed organic solvent consisting of toluene and ethanol along with a given amount of ⁶Li. We succeeded to fabricate the liquid scintillators containing ⁶Li with simple preparation and low cost compared to previous approaches. Further, in the measurement of the pulse height spectra, the thermal neutron peaks could be observed for the developing liquid scintillators. The light yields of the liquid scintillators were approximately 1200 photons/neutron.