Spatial response characterization of liquid scintillator detectors using collimated gamma-ray and neutron beams

Liquid scintillators are suitable for many applications because they can detect and characterize fast neutrons as well as gamma-rays. This paper presents the response of a 15-cm-in-length×15-cm-in-height×8.2-cm-in-width EJ-309 liquid scintillator with respect to the position of neutron and gamma-ray interactions. Liquid scintillator cells are typically filled with 97% of the scintillating cocktail to address thermal expansion of the liquid in varying temperature conditions. Measurements were taken with collimated 137Cs and 252Cf sources for gamma-ray and neutron mapping of the detector, respectively. MCNPX-PoliMi (ver. 2.0) simulations were also performed to demonstrate the spatial response of the detector. Results show that the detector response is greatest at the center and decreases when the collimated neutron and gamma-ray beam is moved toward the edge of the detector. The measured response in the voxels surrounding the detector center decreased by approximately 6% and 12% for gamma-ray and neutron scans, respectively, when compared to the center voxel. The measured decrease in the detector response was most pronounced at the corners of detector assembly. For the corner voxels located in the bottom row of the detector, the measured response decreased by approximately 39% for both gamma-ray and neutron scans. For the corner voxels located in the top row of the detector, the measured response decreased by approximately 66% and 48% for gamma-ray and neutron scans, respectively. Both measurements and simulations show the inefficient production of secondary charged particles in the voxels located in the top portion of the detector due to the presence of expansion volume. Furthermore, the presence of the expansion volume potentially affects the transport of the scintillation light through the coupling window between the liquid scintillator and the photocathode in the photomultiplier tube. -- Highlights: • EJ-309 response with respect to the particle interaction position is studied. • Expansion volume affects the production of secondary charged particles. • The detector response is greatest at the center. • The simulations are restricted to particles transport and interaction models. • Optical photons self-absorption and losses at the container's boundary are observed