Transparent Ce ³⁺ ‐Doped Lithium Silicate Glass Composite Scintillator for Thermal Neutron Detection

ABSTRACT

Sensitive and efficient thermal neutron monitoring is critical across diverse applications, including energy exploration, healthcare, and homeland security. Existing thermal neutron scintillators, however, are fundamentally constrained by suboptimal optical clarity and insufficient scintillation efficiency. Here, a Ce ³⁺ ‐doped lithium silicate glass system is developed, along with an in situ crystallization method to construct transparent glass composite scintillators for enhanced thermal neutron detection. Controlled crystallization ensures precise refractive index matching between the precipitated crystalline phase and the parent glass matrix, thereby preserving high optical transparency. The resulting glass composite simultaneously achieves excellent light transmittance, high luminescence efficiency, and strong neutron response. These combined properties lead to a high light yield of ∼6600 photons/neutron, representing about 10% improvement over the commercial GS20 lithium silicate glass. Beyond scintillation performance, the composite structure enables effective discrimination between γ‐rays and neutrons. These results establish glass‒crystal composites as a promising platform for next‐generation neutron detection systems.