No Arabic abstract
We measure and explain scintillator non-proportionality and gamma quenching of CaWO4 at low energies and low temperatures. Phonons that are created following an interaction in the scintillating crystal at temperatures of 15mK are used for a calorimetric measurement of the deposited energy, and the scintillation light is measured with a separate cryogenic light detector. Making use of radioactivity intrinsic to the scintillating crystal, the scintillator non-proportionality is mapped out to electron energies <5keV. The observed behavior is in agreement with a simple model based on Birks law and the stopping power dE/dx for electrons. We find for Birks constant $k_B=(18.5pm0.7)$nm/keV in CaWO4. Gamma lines allow a measurement of the reduced light yield of photons with respect to electrons, as expected in the presence of scintillator non-proportionality. In particular, we show that gamma-induced events in CaWO4 give only about 90 percent of the light yield of electrons, at energies between 40keV and 80keV.
We have developed a model describing the non-proportional response in scintillators based on non-thermalised carrier and phonon transport. We show that the thermalization of e-h distributions produced in scintillators immediately after photon absorption may take longer than the period over which the non-proportional signal forms. The carrier and LO-phonon distributions during this period remain non-degenerate at quasi-equilibrium temperatures far exceeding room temperature. We solve balance equations describing the energy exchange in a hot bipolar plasma of electrons/holes and phonons. Taking into account dynamic screening we calculate the ambipolar diffusion coefficient at all temperatures. The non-proportional light yields calculated for NaI are shown to be consistent with experimental data. We discuss the implications of a non-equilibrium model, comparing its predictions with a model based on the transport of thermalised carriers. Finally, evidence for non-equilibrium effects is suggested by the shape of non-proportionality curve and wide dispersion in data observed in K-dip spectroscopy near the threshold. A comparison of the predicted curves shows good agreement for deformation potential value in the range 7-8 eV.
Plastic scintillators are widely used in industry, medicine and scientific research, including nuclear and particle physics. Although one of their most common applications is in neutron detection, experimental data on their response to low-energy nuclear recoils are scarce. Here, the relative scintillation efficiency for neutron-induced nuclear recoils in a polystyrene-based plastic scintillator (UPS-923A) is presented, exploring recoil energies between 125 keV and 850 keV. Monte Carlo simulations, incorporating light collection efficiency and energy resolution effects, are used to generate neutron scattering spectra which are matched to observed distributions of scintillation signals to parameterise the energy-dependent quenching factor. At energies above 300 keV the dependence is reasonably described using the semi-empirical formulation of Birks and a kB factor of (0.014+/-0.002) g/MeVcm^2 has been determined. Below that energy the measured quenching factor falls more steeply than predicted by the Birks formalism.
One contribution to the time resolution of a scintillation detector is the signal time spread due to path length variations of the detected photons from a point source. In an experimental study a rectangular scintillator was excited by means of a fast pulsed ultraviolet laser at different positions along its longitudinal axis. Timing measurements with a photomultiplier tube in a detection plane displaced from the scintillator end face showed a correlation between signal time and tube position indicating only a small distortion of photon angles during transmission. The data is in good agreement with a Monte Carlo simulation used to compute the average photon angle with respect to the detection plane and the average propagation time. Limitations on timing performance that arise from propagation time dispersion are expected for long and thin scintillators used in future particle identification systems.
The exact nature of the lowest $K^pi =2_gamma ^+$ rotational bands in all deformed nuclei remains obscure. Traditionally they are assumed to be collective vibrations of the nuclear shape in the $gamma$ degree of freedom perpendicular to the nuclear symmetry axis. Very few such $gamma$-bands have been traced past the usual back-bending rotational alignments of high-j nucleons. We have investigated the structure of positive-parity bands in the N=90 nucleus 156Dy, using the 148Nd(12C,4n)156Dy reaction at 65 MeV, observing the resulting ${gamma}$-ray transitions with the Gammasphere array. The even- and odd-spin members of the $K^pi =2_gamma^+$ $gamma$-band are observed to 32+ and 31+ respectively. This rotational band faithfully tracks the ground-state configuration to the highest spins. The members of a possible $gamma$-vibration built on the aligned yrast S-band are observed to spins 28+ and 27+. An even-spin positive-parity band, observed to spin 24+, is a candidate for an aligned S-band built on the seniority-zero configuration of the $0_2^+$ state at 676 keV. The crossing of this band with the $0_2^+$ band is at $hbaromega$= 0.28(1) MeV and is consistent with the configuration of the $0_2^+$ band not producing any blocking of the monopole pairing.
Linear alkylbenzene has been recently used as the solvent of liquid scintillator by several neutrino experiments. The energy quenching effect of a linear alkylbenzene based liquid scintillator is studied in this paper with a 14 MeV D-T compact neutron generator, to improve the energy non-linearity modelling of this kind of detectors. The recoiled proton in the liquid scintillator has a kinetic energy ranging from 0.5 MeV to 13 MeV. The data is used to extract the parameters of the Birks law, an empirical model to describe the energy quenching effect of the liquid scintillator.