Photon Scattering Effects in Heterogeneous Scintillator Systems

This paper describes a new experimental approach that reveals the individ-ual contributions of sample geometry and scattering phenomena in heteroge-neous flow-cell detectors. The experimental detector responses obtained using scintillating polystyrene beads with optically smooth surfaces are compared with those obtained using similar beads with highly diffuse surfaces. These comparisons are carried out for both alpha- and beta-emitting nuclides. The experimental detection efficiencies are compared to Monte Carlo simulations of the detection process. Also, a new technique will be described for the fabrication of scintillating beads