Assessment of photon detectors for a handheld gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer using Cs2LiYCl6:Ce (CLYC) scintillator

The coupling of Cs2LiYCl6:Ce (CLYC) scintillator to silicon photon converters has been evaluated with the goal of investigating replacements for the traditional photomultiplier tube (PMT) in small handheld spectrometers. Energy spectra produced under irradiation by a range of gamma-ray and neutron sources were collected with CLYC mounted to several avalanche photodiodes, PIN photodiodes, and silicon photomultipliers. The performance for both gamma rays and neutrons was compared to that obtained by coupling CLYC to PMTs. None of the silicon devices evaluated provide comparable performance to that of a PMT with CLYC. This is attributed to the photon-detection efficiency of the silicon detectors over the wavelength range of CLYC emissions, as well as the noise characteristics of the devices.