Multilayer phoswich scintillators for neutron / gamma discrimination

MultiLayer Phoswich (MLP) scintillators have been studied for fission neutron detection by Monte-Carlo simulations and experimental tests. n/γ discrimination behavior of these systems and their angular dependencies have been characterized. The possibility to carry on a neutron counting system based of such an approach has been proven, and according to the results, an optimal thickness of layers for fission neutron counting was found around [100-150] μm. But, contrary to current liquid or solid-state discrimination scintillators, it appears that MLP-based neutron counting systems cannot directly classify neutron and gamma-ray interaction events from pulse shape analysis. To operate properly, it is therefore required to implement a compensation algorithm in the system readout.