A 2D pixelated stilbene scintillator detector array for simultaneous radiography with fast neutrons and gammas

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel 2D pixelated stilbene scintillator detector array capable of simultaneous fast neutron and gamma detection, with effective pulse shape discrimination and validated performance through experiments and simulations.

Contribution

The development of a 16-crystal stilbene detector array with integrated electronics for simultaneous neutron and gamma radiography is a new approach.

Findings

Detection efficiency for D-D neutrons is around 10%.

The detector successfully discriminates neutrons from gammas using pulse shape algorithms.

Measured cross sections align with Geant4 simulations.

Abstract

For radiography applications using fast neutrons simultaneously with gammas we have developed a detector with 16 stilbene crystals in a 4$\times$4 2D array with a 5~mm pitch and a depth of 25~mm. The crystal array is read out by Silicon photomultipliers and custom signal processing electronics. The detector prototype was tested using a custom D-D fast neutron generator at the Paul Scherrer Institute. By applying a pulse shape discrimination algorithm the detector is able to detect and distinguish fast neutrons and gammas simultaneously. Various attenuating samples placed between the source and detector with different materials and thicknesses were tested and the measured macroscopic fast neutron cross sections were compared to what was expected. Deviations were studied with the help of detailed Geant4 simulations. The detection efficiency for D-D fast neutrons was measured to be around 10\%.