Response and noise characteristics of small-sized inorganic and organic scintillation detectors measured with vacuum and solid-state photodetectors

Response and noise properties of scintillation detectors were investigated using a 137Cs radioactive source. The experimental setup consisted of a scintillator, photodetector, amplifier, and spectrometric analog-to-digital converter. Small-sized, cubic crystals were manufactured of stilbene, p-terphenyl and thallium-doped cesium iodide, as well as of a plastic scintillator material based on polystyrene. Vacuum and solid-state photomultipliers and a silicon PIN photodiode were used as photodetectors. The energy equivalent noise was determined for all used photodetectors. The response of various scintillators when using vacuum and semiconductor photomultipliers was found to be closely similar.