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
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