Characterisation of potassium bromide loaded with dysprosium fluoride nanocrystals for neutron detection
| Autor: | Ken Carpenter, Robert D. Busch, Gennady A. Smolyakov, Brian A. Akins, John B. Plumley, Nathaniel C. Cook, Antonio C. Rivera, Natasha N. Glazener, Nathan J. Withers, Leisha M. Armijo, Marek Osinski |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Nanocomposite
Materials science Potassium bromide Analytical chemistry chemistry.chemical_element Bioengineering Condensed Matter Physics Nanocrystalline material Neutron temperature chemistry.chemical_compound Neutron capture chemistry Nanocrystal Materials Chemistry Dysprosium Neutron detection Electrical and Electronic Engineering Nuclear chemistry |
| Zdroj: | International Journal of Nanotechnology. 11:529 |
| ISSN: | 1741-8151 1475-7435 |
| Popis: | We explore a novel concept of passive optically-enabled detection of thermal neutrons that exploits transmutation of 164 Dy into 165 Ho. The concept relies on significant differences in optical properties of Dy and Ho and on our ability to find the most sensitive optical method of differentiating between Dy and Ho. While the concept applies equally well to bulk materials and to nanocrystals (NCs), the nanocrystalline approach is much more attractive due to its significantly lower cost, relative ease of colloidal synthesis of high quality NCs with controlled composition, and superior optical and mechanical properties of NCs compared to their bulk counterparts. One particular advantage of NCs for neutron detection is that in principle they can be integrated into a transparent host without causing optical scattering. Since Ho is known to have strong emission lines in mid-infrared, we considered potassium bromide (KBr), transparent in mid-IR spectral range, to be a suitable host for Dy-containing NCs. Here, we report on synthesis and characterisation of DyF 3 :10%Ce, HoF 3 :10%Ce, and DyF 3 :10%Ho,10%Ce NCs, their insertion into KBr matrix, and optical characterisation of the obtained nanocomposites, both non-irradiated and subjected to neutron irradiation. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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