Response of a Liquid Scintillator to Fast Neutrons and γ Radiation

The response of a commercially available liquid scintillator to D(d,n)He³ neutrons and to γ radiation from several standard sources has been measured. It is found that the pulse height response to γ‐ray energy is linear in the energy range 0.5 to 2.6 Mev, and that the fast neutron detection efficiency of a disk scintillator 5 cm thick is about 30% in the neutron energy range 2 to 3.5 Mev, and varies with neutron energy E as $$\text{ξ(E)=0.146+0.45/E+0.82,}$$ where E is measured in Mev.