Deuterated-xylene (EJ301D): A new, improved deuterated scintillator for neutron spectroscopy

In conjunction with Eljen Technologies (Sweetwater,TX), we have developed and evaluated a deuterated-xylene based liquid organic scintillator detector (3 in. x 3 in.) and PMT assembly. Like deuterated-benzene based scintillators such as EJ315 and NE230 the n$+$d recoil spectrum producing the light spectrum has distinct peaks corresponding to specific neutron energy groups. The light spectrum can then be unfolded to produce neutron energy spectra including fission spectra without the need for time-of-flight. This results in a large over-all detection efficiency for such detectors as they can be used in arrays covering a large angular range, close to the neutron source and do not require a pulsed or gated source. In addition, the new EJ301D scintillator has a lower neutron energy threshold for improved PSD, which is important in many low-energy measurements. More importantly this scintillator has a much safer flash point than benzene-based scintillators making it better suited for many applications including field applications in nuclear security and non-proliferation.