The influence of the solvent in fast neutron/gamma discrimination

The biphenyl/POPOP couple is known for its scintillation properties, but we describe in this letter its use for the discrimination between fast neutrons and gamma rays. More particularly, the influence of the matrix involved in this process is of interest, and for the first time pulse shape discrimination has been observed in non-common solvents such as heptane or ethanol. The discrimination efficiency of our systems is described in terms of figure of merit, angle between neutron and gamma lobes and scintillation performances. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2014