Scintillators based on zinc selenide and ticor for detection of charged particles

Abstract

Studies of charged particle detectors based on ZnSe(Te) and Al₂O₃(Ti⁺³) (ticor) optically connected with photodiodes (PD) of S3590 type are reported. The charge-sensitive preamplifier connected with PD had equivalent noise level of 420 electrons with formation time of 5 µs. The signal value from ticor on ²⁰⁷Bi internal conversion electrons (ICE) with Ee = 976 keV is equivalent to the signal value from Eg = 14 keV when PD operates in the semiconductor detector mode (without a scintillator); from a-particles with Ea = 5150 keV it corresponds to 20 keV. From these results, α/β-ratio is ~ 0.28. Energy resolution of ticor on α-particles Ra with Ee = 5150 keV is 11.6 %, on ICE with Ee = 976 keV Re₁/₂ = 15%. Under the same conditions Ra = 3% and Re = 3.7% for single crystal ZnSe(Te). A possibility to create combined detectors of electrons and a-particles on the basis of these two scintillators is discussed.