Time-resolved fast-neutron imaging with a pulse-counting image intensifier

A new imaging method that combines high-efficiency fast-neutron detection with sub-ns time resolution is presented. This is achieved by exploiting the high neutron detection efficiency of a thick scintillator and the fast timing capability and flexibility of light-pulse detection with a dedicated image intensifier. The neutron converter is a plastic scintillator slab or, alternatively, a scintillating fibre screen. The scintillator is optically coupled to a pulse counting image intensifier which measures the 2-dimensional position coordinates and the Time-Of-Flight (TOF) of each detected neutron with an intrinsic time resolution of less than 1 ns. Large-area imaging devices with high count rate capability can be obtained by lateral segmentation of the optical readout channels

Low-Afterglow, High-Refractive-Index Liquid Scintillators for Fast-Neutron Spectrometry and Imaging Applications

For ion and neutron spectrometry and imaging applications at a high intensity pulsed laser facility, fast liquid scintillators with very low afterglow are required. Furthermore, neutron imaging with fiber (or liquid-core) capillary arrays calls for scintillation materials with high refractive index. To this end, we have examined various combinations of established mixtures of fluors and solvents, that were enriched alternatively with nitrogen or oxygen. Dissolved molecular oxygen is known to be a highly effective quenching agent, that efficiently suppresses the population of the triplet states in the fluor, which are primarily responsible for the afterglow. For measuring the glow curves of scintillators, we have employed the time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) technique, characterized by high dynamic range of several orders of magnitude in light intensity. In this paper we outline the application for the fast scintillators, briefly present the scintillation mechanism in liquids, describe our specific TCSPC method and discuss the results.Comment: 5 pages, Contribution to SORMA WEST 2008. To be published in IEEE TNS, 200

Progress with Xenon Liquid Hole Multipliers

The bubble-assisted Liquid Hole Multiplier (LHM) is a recently-proposed concept for the combined detection of ionization electrons and primary scintillation photons in noble-liquid time projection chambers. The LHM comprises a perforated micro-pattern electrode (e.g. Thick Gas Electron Multiplier - THGEM, or Gas Electron Multiplier - GEM) immersed in the liquid, with a bubble of the noble gas supported underneath. Ionization electrons and scintillation-induced photoelectrons extracted from a cesium iodide photocathode drift through the electrode's holes and induce electroluminescence (EL) signals in the bubble; these are recorded by photon detectors located closely below the electrode. We present recent results in the development of LHMs, comparing the response of different electrodes to ionization and photon-induced electrons.Comment: Presented at 2016 IEEE NSS/MIC, Strasbourg, France, 29 October - 5 November 201

Detectors for the Gamma-Ray Resonant Absorption (GRA) Method of Explosives Detection in Cargo: A Comparative Study

Gamma-Ray Resonant Absorption (GRA) is an automatic-decision radiographic screening technique that combines high radiation penetration with very good sensitivity and specificity to nitrogenous explosives. The method is particularly well-suited to inspection of large, massive objects (since the incident gamma-ray probe is at 9.17 MeV) such as aviation and marine containers, heavy vehicles and railroad cars. Two kinds of gamma-ray detectors have been employed to date in GRA systems: 1) Resonant-response nitrogen-rich liquid scintillators and 2) BGO detectors. This paper analyses and compares the response of these detector-types to the resonant radiation, in terms of single-pixel figures of merit. The latter are sensitive not only to detector response, but also to accelerator-beam quality, via the properties of the nuclear reaction that produces the resonant gamma-rays. Generally, resonant detectors give rise to much higher nitrogen-contrast sensitivity in the radiographic image than their non-resonant detector counterparts and furthermore, do not require proton beams of high energy-resolution. By comparison, the non-resonant detectors have higher gamma-detection efficiency, but their contrast sensitivity is very sensitive to the quality of the accelerator beam. Implications of these detector/accelerator characteristics for eventual GRA field systems are discussed.Comment: 11 page