Radiopurity of a CeBr3 crystal used as scintillation detector

Cerium bromide (CeBr3) has recently been shown to exhibit several properties making it a suitable material as a scintillation detector in nuclear physics applications. The intrinsic activity of gamma-ray emitting radionuclides in a 38.1 mm x 38.1 mm (diameter x height) crystal of CeBr3 was investigated. The measurements were carried out in the HADES underground laboratory located 225 m underground. Two primordial radionuclides were detected; 227Ac (and its daughters) with massic activity of 0.30 +/- 0.02 Bq/kg and 138La with massic activity of 7.4 +/- 1.0 mBq/kg. Two activation products were also detected; 139Ce and 82Br. Their massic activities (assuming a homogeneous distribution in the crystal) just before taking the CeBr3 crystal underground were 4.3 +/- 0.3 mBq/kg and18 +/- 4 mBq/kg correspondingly. None of the other common primordial radionuclides (40K, 226Ra, 228Ra, 228Th,and 235U) were detected and their detection limits were below 2 mBq/kg except for 238U for which the upper limit was135 mBq/kg and 210Pb with an upper limit of 600 mBq/kg.

LUTTER Guillaume;  HULT Mikael;  BILLNERT Robert;  OBERSTEDT Andreas;  OBERSTEDT Stephan;  ANDREOTTI Erica;  MARISSENS Gerd;  ROSENGARD Ulf;  TZIKA Faidra; 

2013-01-14

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

JRC74411

0168-9002,   

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168900212015215,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC74411,   

10.1016/j.nima.2012.11.174,