Stilbene is an organic solid scintillator material used for fast neutron detection.
Characteristics:
- Direct detection of fast neutrons
- Stilbene is highly sensitive to fast neutrons, hence they do not need to be moderated to lower energies to be detected
- Stilbene takes advantage of the low background of fast neutrons for low-noise measurements
- Detection of unmoderated neutrons preserves information about neutron trajectories and energies
- Excellent discrimination between neutrons and gamma rays
- Facilitates counting fast neutrons without false positives from gamma rays
- Permits use of lower energy thresholds than liquid scintillators
- Safe and Easy to Handle and Transport
- Solid, non-hygroscopic, not flammable, not hazardous
- Unpackaged stilbene is stable
- Avoids the transportation, storage, and handling concerns of many liquid organic scintillators