Optimization of thickness of GAGG scintillator for detecting an alpha particle emitter in a field of high beta and gamma background

Morishita, Yuki   ; Yamamoto, Seiichi*; Izaki, Kenji ; Kaneko, Junichi* ; Hoshi, Katsuya ; Torii, Tatsuo  

To detect plutonium isotopes (Pu, Pu, and Pu) in a field of high beta and background, an alpha particle detector with low beta and -ray sensitivity is required. Therefore, we optimized the thickness of the GAGG scintillator for alpha particle detection in a field of high beta and background. We prepared three GAGG scintillators with thicknesses of 0.05 mm, 0.07 mm, and 0.1 mm. Each of the GAGG scintillators was coupled optically to the SiPM array, which was used as the photodetector. Alpha, beta, and rays were irradiated onto the developed alpha particle detector, and their spectra were obtained. All GAGG scintillators used in this study were not sensitive to rays with a dose rate of 1 mSv/h. The beta count of the 0.05-mm-thick GAGG was only 1/100 that of the 0.1-mm-thick GAGG. Therefore, the 0.05-mm-thick GAGG scintillator is promising from the viewpoint of detecting plutonium contamination in a field with high beta and background.