neutron imaging circular mtf siemens star

Approaching the device limits, the scientific community sought to develop a material integrating direct neutron detection with semiconductor operation. Requisitioning semiconducting processing technology also decreases the cost of highly complex, small form-factor devices. Furthermore, the two larger isotopes ( 113Cd and 157Gd) exhibit higher gamma ray sensitivity, potentially masking the neutron signal in the presence of a mixed radiation field with high gamma ray background. Indirect neutron detection has its own drawbacks, relying on the detection of secondary particles spawned from the neutron interaction. Coupled to a high resolution ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), the MCP has shown high speed detection windows at a resolution of roughly 10 μm, limited by the channel pore distance.

The Microchannel Plate (MCP) technology was adapted to neutron detection by integrating 10B in the glass channel sidewall. Again, the cost, size and complexity of such an imaging system greatly impacts the application space. Gadolinium compund scintillators have demonstrated increased spatial resolution through the addition of multi-lens optics down to the micron resolution.

While the device offers a large field of view and resolution on par with layer thickness, the cost and size of the optics assembly are limiting factors, favoring more permanent installation. Thin films of scintillating LiF (50 μm thickness) have been applied to aluminum imaging windows coupled to high density charge coupled device (CCD) optics. Some of the lighter materials utilized in this application include LiF, B(dopant), BN, BP, B 4C. Typically, a semiconductor is doped or coated in a thin film containing one of the commonly used neutron absorbing isotopes ( 6Li, 10B, 113Cd, 157Gd) for indirect neutron detection.

Neutron imaging circular mtf siemens star