Neutron-Induced Radiation Damage in LYSO, BaF₂ and PWO Crystals

Abstract

One crucial issue for the application of scintillation crystals in future high-energy physics experiments is radiation damage in a severe radiation environment, such as the high luminosity large hadron collider. While radiation damage induced by ionization dose in inorganic scintillators is well understood, investigations are ongoing to understand radiation damage induced by hadrons, including both charged hadrons and neutrons. Aiming at understanding neutron-induced radiation damage in fast inorganic scintillators, lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate (LYSO)/lutetium fine silicate (LFS), BaF₂, and PWO crystals were irradiated at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center by a combination of particles, including neutrons, protons, and γ-rays. The results indicate that LYSO/LFS and BaF₂ crystal plates are radiation hard up to a 1-MeV equivalent neutrons fluence of 9×10¹⁵ equivalent neutron (n_(eq))/cm², but not PWO, and the neutron-induced radiation damage in LYSO crystals is a factor of ten less than protons.