Growth and scintillation properties of LiBr/CeBr3 eutectic scintillator for neutron detection

A 6LiBr/CeBr3 eutectic thermal-neutron scintillator, with a high 6Li concentration, was developed using the vertical Bridgman method. The grown eutectic contained an 6Li molar ratio of 35%, which is higher than those of the commercial neutron scintillators such as Ce:LiCaAlF6 and Ce:Cs2LiYCl6. Furthermore, it showed optical transparency and a lamellar eutectic structure elongating along the growth direction. The synthesized eutectic showed emission peaks at 360 and 380 nm, originating from the Ce3+ 5d-4f transition in the CeBr3 scintillation phase. The scintillation performance of 6LiBr/CeBr3 was evaluated under X-ray, γ-ray, and neutron irradiation to corroborate its neutron detection potential.