Sankowska Małgorzata, Bilski Paweł, Kłosowski Mariusz, Kilian Anna, Gieszczyk Wojciech, Marczewska Barbara
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences PAN (IFJ PAN), Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342 Krakow, Poland.
Materials (Basel). 2024 Oct 14;17(20):5029. doi: 10.3390/ma17205029.
In this work, the properties of LiF crystals grown using Li of different isotopic compositions are described from the standpoint of their application as fluorescent nuclear track detectors used in measurements in the neutron radiation fields. The crystals were grown using two techniques: the Czochralski method and the micro-pulling-down method. Three isotopic compositions of Li were studied: natural, highly enriched in Li, and highly enriched in Li. It was found that LiF detectors are about six times more sensitive to thermal (low energy) neutrons than natural LiF, which significantly decreases the lower detection limit. LiF detectors are insensitive to thermal neutrons, which makes it easier to detect tracks due to other radiation modalities, such as energetic ions or nuclei recoiled in collisions with high-energy neutrons. Besides the response to neutron radiation, no other significant differences in the crystal properties were identified, irrespective of the isotopic composition and crystal growth method employed.
在这项工作中，从用于中子辐射场测量的荧光核径迹探测器的应用角度，描述了使用不同同位素组成的锂生长的LiF晶体的特性。这些晶体采用两种技术生长：提拉法和微下拉法。研究了锂的三种同位素组成：天然的、高度富集锂-6的和高度富集锂-7的。结果发现，LiF探测器对热（低能）中子的敏感度比天然LiF高约六倍，这显著降低了探测下限。LiF探测器对热中子不敏感，这使得更容易检测到由其他辐射形式产生的径迹，例如高能离子或与高能中子碰撞时反冲的原子核。除了对中子辐射的响应外，无论所采用的同位素组成和晶体生长方法如何，均未发现晶体特性存在其他显著差异。
