p-Terphenyl: An alternative to liquid scintillators for neutron detection

A detailed characterization of doped paraterphenyl (p-Terphenyl) neutron detectors was obtained by means of γ-sources and a 252Cf fission chamber. The intrinsic timing resolution, the energy resolution up to 2 MeVee, and the electron-equivalent energy calibration were determined using γ-sources. The neutron time-of-flight spectrum from the spontaneous fission of 252Cf provided information on the proton energy calibration, the light output function, and the intrinsic neutron detection efficiency between 0 and 8 MeV for a threshold of 250 keV. Measurements of the latter were also performed using monoenergetic neutron beams. The applied experimental methods were cross-checked using two BC501A scintillation detectors, which were previously calibrated at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig, Germany. Results were compared to Monte-Carlo simulations performed using NRESP7 and NEFF7 codes.