Neutron imaging and tomography with MCPs

TL;DR

This paper presents a neutron imaging detector using neutron-sensitive microchannel plates that achieve high detection efficiency and spatial resolution, enabling fast tomography and portable neutron imaging applications.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel neutron detector based on MCPs with high efficiency and resolution, outperforming traditional scintillator-based detectors in sensitivity.

Findings

Achieved over 50% detection efficiency for thermal neutrons

Demonstrated spatial resolution better than 150 micrometers

Enabled fast neutron tomography and video recording

Abstract

A neutron imaging detector based on neutron-sensitive microchannel plates (MCPs) was constructed and tested at beamlines of thermal and cold neutrons. The MCPs are made of a glass mixture containing B-10 and natural Gd, which makes the bulk of the MCP an efficient neutron converter. Contrary to the neutron sensitive scintillator screens normally used in neutron imaging, spatial resolution is not traded off with detection efficiency. While the best neutron imaging scintillators have a detection efficiency around a percent, a detection efficiency of around 50% for thermal neutrons and 70% for cold neutrons has been demonstrated with these MCPs earlier. Our tests show a performance similar to conventional neutron imaging detectors, apart from the orders of magnitude better sensitivity. We demonstrate a spatial resolution better than 150 um. The sensitivity of this detector allows fast tomography and neutron video recording, and will make smaller reactor sites and even portable sources suitable for neutron imaging.