SCINTILLATOR FOR DETECTING NEUTRONS AND NEUTRON DETECTOR Russian patent published in 2013 - IPC G01T3/06 C09K11/85 C30B15/08 C30B29/12 

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: scintillator for detecting neutrons has a metal fluoride crystal selected from LiCaAlF₆, LiSrAlF₆, LiYF₄, which serves as a matrix in which content of ⁶Li atoms per unit volume (atom/nm³) ranges from 1.1 to 20. The crystal has effective atomic number from 10 to 40, and contains at least one type of lanthanide selected from a group consisting of cerium, praseodymium and europium. The neutron detector contains said scintillator and a photodetector. The metal fluoride crystal is obtained by melting a mixture composed of lithium fluoride, a fluoride of said metal, having valence of 2 or higher, and lanthanide fluoride and a monocrystal is grown from the melt.

EFFECT: disclosed scintillator has high sensitivity to neutron radiation and low background noise associated with gamma rays.

6 cl, 4 dwg, 4 tbl, 2 ex