The Response of Organic Scintillators

Charged particles. Experiments have shown that organic crystal scintillators (e.g., anthracene) exhibit a direction-dependent response to alphas and protons. An adequate explanation of the direction-dependent characteristics of the response does not exist at present. The user should be aware of the phenomenon to avoid errors. 

The response of plastic and liquid scintillators to electrons, protons, and alphas is shown in Figs. 6.10, 6.11, and 6.12. Notice that the response is not linear, especially for heavier ions. The response has been studied theoretically by many investigators (Birks and Refs. 32-35). 

Photons and neutrons. Organic scintillators are not normally used for detection of gammas because of their low efficiency. The liquid scintillators NE 213 is being used for y detection in mixed neutron-gamma fields because of its 

---