Wavelength-shifter coated polystyrene as an easy-to-build and low-cost plastic scintillator detector

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that coating polystyrene with wavelength-shifter molecules significantly enhances its light yield, making it a promising, low-cost option for easy-to-assemble plastic scintillator detectors.

Contribution

It introduces a simple coating method to improve polystyrene's light yield, offering a low-cost alternative for plastic scintillator detectors.

Findings

Coated polystyrene shows nearly 5-6 times higher photon yield than uncoated.

Comparison with doped plastic scintillators highlights competitive light output.

Results support further development of inexpensive, easy-to-build scintillator detectors.

Abstract

We studied the light yield of a pure polystyrene slide coated with wavelength-shifter molecules, coupled to a photomultiplier, using beta particles from a 90-Sr source, as a possible easy-to-build, low-cost plastic scintillator detector. Comparison measurements were performed with an uncoated polystyrene slide as well as with uncoated and coated PMMA slides, the latter which can only produce Cherenkov light when being traversed by charged particles. The results with the single (double) coated polystyrene slides show about 4.9 (6.3) times higher detected photon yield compared to the uncoated slide. For comparison, the light yield of a polystyrene-based extruded plastic scintillator material doped with PTP and POPOP was measured as well. The absolute detected light yield motivates future studies for developing easy-to-build, low-cost polystyrene-based plastic scintillator detectors.