Lithium-gadolinium-borate as a neutron dosemeter

Lithium-gadolinium-borate (LGB) dispersed as microcrystals within the plastic scintillator BC-490 is a promising material for accurate neutron dosimetry in mixed n/gamma fields. Spectral information > 1 MeV is obtained by capture gating proton recoil events in the plastic scintillator to subsequent capture in (6)Li. Below 1 MeV, isolated capture events in either gadolinium or (6)Li give energy information in this region. Discrimination based on capture gating is used to reject false coincidences due to gamma rays or incorrectly gated neutron events. A detailed Monte Carlo model has been created in MCNPX that predicts the energy response of the LGB spectrometer in the capture-gated mode of operation. X-ray microtomography has been performed on the detector in order to obtain the LGB microcrystal distribution within the plastic scintillator, and this is incorporated into the model. The way in which the calculated response functions can be included in an unfolding procedure is outlined.