[Question] Would BC412 plastic scintillator be suitable?

[jtomes123]

Hi, would a plastic scintillator be suitable for the detector of would the output be too weak? I can get a cube of 50x50x10mm of BC412 for a reasonable price shipped to EU. I know that plastic scintillator have weaker output than NaI(Tl) or CsI(Tl), however the volume of the scintillator would also be greater. Or if you have other good scintillator source suggestion in EU it would be welcome.

But I like the BC412 since it should be pretty indestructible and moisture resistant.

Thanks!

[NuclearPhoenixx]

Hi there, I don't know any scintillator source in the EU. If somebody has one, please let me know as well 😄

BC412 is okay in theory. However, there are two things to keep in mind:

1. No spectrometry, plastic scintillators have very poor energy resolution so you won't get any useful info out of them.
2. The size you chose is not particularly great for a SiPM. For the best results you'd want a crystal face that has a comparable surface area to the SiPMs, otherwise you'll lose some of the light from the scintillator.

Not to say it wouldn't work just counting pulses, but it's not that ideal. You'll have to try it out. Hope that helps!