A high-resolution real-time imaging system for observing the trajectories of neutron induced particles in a scintillator

Abstract

High-resolution imaging of neutron induced particles is required in such methods as neutron radiography. However, the scintillation spots in a neutron-sensitive scintillator have not yet been imaged nor measured for size. We developed a high-resolution, real-time neutron induced particle imaging system for observing these particles' trajectories in a scintillator. The developed system is based on a magnifying unit and a cooled electron multiplying charge-coupled device (EM-CCD) camera combined with a lithium-containing silver-doped zinc sulfide (Li-ZnS(Ag)) scintillator plate. Neutrons from a californium-252 (252Cf) source were irradiated to the Li-ZnS(Ag) scintillator and imaged with the system. Using our system, we measured the scintillation spots of the neutron induced particles having different shapes in real time. In some of these measured scintillation spots, those with elliptical shapes were observed due to the trajectories of the particles in the scintillator. The spatial resolution calculated from the widths of the scintillation spots was ∼56 μm. Consequently, the developed imaging system is promising for research on neutron imaging that requires high spatial resolution.

Ultrahigh resolution real-time trajectory imaging of neutron induced particles in a scintillator from lithium-6 plate

“…We also achieved high-resolution, real-time imaging of X-rays and alpha particles by combining scintillators with a high-sensitivity CCD camera and a magnifying unit [19][20][21]. Moreover we imaged neutron induced particle's spots in Li-ZnS(Ag) film with the system [22] but clear trajectories were not images because Li-ZnS(Ag) was opaque. We conjectured that these systems could be applied to imaging the trajectories of neutron induced particles if we employed the system in combination with a 6 Li plate and a transparent scintillator.…”