A novel polystyrene-based scintillator production process involving additive manufacturing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new additive manufacturing method for producing polystyrene-based scintillators, enabling complex detector geometries and potentially enhancing particle detection capabilities.

Contribution

It presents a novel 3D printing process for scintillators, addressing limitations of traditional manufacturing techniques in particle detector construction.

Findings

Successful 3D printing of polystyrene-based scintillators

Measured scintillation light output demonstrates functionality

Potential for complex detector geometries

Abstract

Plastic scintillator detectors are widely used in particle physics thanks to the very good particle identification, tracking capabilities and time resolution. However, new experimental challenges and the need for enhanced performance require the construction of detector geometries that are complicated using the current production techniques. In this article we propose a new production technique based on additive manufacturing that aims to 3D print polystyrene-based scintillator. The production process and the results of the scintillation light output measurement of the 3D-printed scintillator are reported.