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17–22 Oct 2016
Kyoto International Conference Center
Japan timezone

Investigation of lanthanide-doped APLF scintillators for neutron detection

20 Oct 2016, 08:30
4h
Kyoto International Conference Center

Kyoto International Conference Center

Takaragaike, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-0001 Japan
Poster MPT - Materials Physics and Technology Poster 5

Speaker

Dr Toshihiko Shimizu (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University)

Description

Investigating the fusion plasma is necessary to control the fusion process and to understand the plasma dynamics. Down-scattered (DS) neutrons detection is much suitable for measurement of the areal-density. We have demonstrated that lanthanide-doped 20Al(PO3)3-80LiF (APLF) has excellent characteristics as DS neutron scintillators. In this paper, the properties of lanthanide-doped APLF scintillators for neutron detection was investigated. Required temporal resolution of scintillators for DS neutron detection is less than 10 ns. The temporal resolution depends on fluorescence wavelength of luminescence center ion. Different lanthanide-doped APLF samples were prepared by melt-quench method for evaluation. Time-resolved spectroscopy using vacuum ultraviolet laser was used to assess the fluorescence decay times of each sample. Among all samples, the Nd-doped has the fastest time of 6.6 ns. When compared to the fluorescence decay time of a standard scintillator, GS2 with 38.1 ns, the lanthanide doped APLFs. The fluorescence decay time of a Pr-doped APLF was also evaluated using different radioactive sources. The Pr-doped APLF exhibits fast fluorescence lifetime compared to GS2 by one order of magnitude regardless of the excitation source. We have studied the potential of lanthanide-doped APLF as scintillators for neutron detection. Lanthanide-doped APLFs have faster fluorescence decay time compared to GS2. Nd-doped APLF exhibits the fastest decay time of 6.6 ns. The fluorescence of the Pr-doped and GS2 using three different radiation sources were also compared. Though the light output of the doped APLF is lower, the fluorescence intensity can still be detected. Lanthanide-doped APLFs can be better alternatives to conventional scintillators for neutron detection. Further developments on lanthanide-doped APLF based neutron scintillators are highly anticipated. In addition, this Pr-doped APLF scintillator was applied to development of a multichannel low-energy neutron spectrometer, and was actually used to detect DS neutrons in the recent fusion experiment using GEKKO XII. As a result, DS neutrons were successfully detected. We are confident that our scintillator will be a powerful tool of fusion experiment.
Country or International Organization Japan
Paper Number MPT/P5-18

Primary author

Dr Toshihiko Shimizu (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University)

Co-authors

Prof. Akira Yoshikawa (Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University) Dr Hideki Yoshida (Ceramic Research Center of Nagasaki) Prof. Hiroaki Nishimura (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Dr Hirofumi Kan (Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.) Prof. Hiroshi AZECHI (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Prof. Hiroyuki Shiraga (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Dr Kei Kamada (Furukawa Co., Ltd) Dr Kohei Yamanoi (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Dr Melvin John F. Empizo (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Prof. Mitsuo Nakai (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Dr Nakahiro Satoh (Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.) Dr Nobuhiko Izumi (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore) Prof. Nobuhiko Sarukura (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Prof. Shigeru Fujino (Art, Science and Technology Center for Cooperative Research, Kyushu University) Dr Takahiro Murata (Kumamoto University) Prof. Takayoshi Norimatsu (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Dr Yasunobu Arikawa (Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University) Dr Yoshiyuki Usuki (Furukawa Co., Ltd)

Presentation materials