A high light yield neutron scintillator based on Ce3+-doped lithium glass

The development of low-cost and highly efficient thermal neutron detection materials to substitute the rare and expensive 3He gas is important for the area. Lithium-based glass (Li glass) is a promising candidate due to its simple fabrication process and low cost. This paper reports the optical properties and scintillation performance of a new Ce3+-doped Li glass, whose luminescence efficiency is significantly enhanced with a light yield of about 4770 ph/MeV, which is about 54% of that of BGO crystal, and the energy resolution is 14.5% for 662 keV gamma rays. The Ce3+-doped Li glass showed a high light yield of about 7058 ph/neutron, which is about 1.18 times that of the reference GS20 glass. The Ce3+ doped Li glass exhibits stronger gamma rays suppression capability compared to GS20 glass samples. Further optimizing the Ce3+ concentration and 6Li content is expected to achieve much superior neutron detection efficiency, positioning it as a promising alternative to 3He gas for efficient thermal neutron detection.