Photon sensitivity of superheated drop at room temperature

It has been reported that superheated drops made of R-12 at room temperatur e are sensitive to neutrons yet insensitive to photons. This property makes its use attractive as one of the most useful neutron dosimeters. The photo n sensitivity of R-12 at room temperature (25 degreesC) when exposed to 59. 54 keV photons obtained from radioactive Am-241 has been noted for the firs t time in our laboratory. This discovery is of importance not only from the point of view of basic science but also to the users of R-12 in neutron do simetry in assessing the neutron dose correctly. This discovery also indica tes a new direction of investigation with R-12 detector. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.