The effect of the composition of a Nd-loaded liquid organic scintillator on light yield

Abstract

The light yield in samples of a Nd-loaded scintillator was measured. The scintillator composition differed in the solvent (pseudocumene (PC) and a mixture of PC with linear alkyl benzene), the scintillating dye type (РРО or ВРО), and the Nd concentration. The light yield in the PC (PPO, 1.5 g/L), which was approximately 11500 photons/MeV, was assumed to be the standard. The ionizing-radiation sources were ¹³⁷Cs, ²⁴¹Am, and ¹⁰⁹Cd radionuclides. It was shown that the light yield in the scintillator with a Nd concentration as high 30 g/L (~3%) in PC made it possible to attain energy resolution at a level of 3% at an energy of 3 MeV (neutrinoless 2β decay of ¹⁵⁰Nd).