Neutron Imaging With Li-Glass Based Multicore SCIntillating FIber (SCIFI)
Abstract
The improvement of neutron imaging towards and beyond the microscale is a well-documented need for the iterative characterization and modeling of numerous microstructured X-ray opaque materials. This work presents the recent progress in evaluating a SCIntillating FIber (SCIFI) proof-of-concept towards micron-level thermal neutron radiography. These SCIFIs are composed of 6 Li-enriched silicate glass cores doped with a Ce activator. The cores possess ~8.5 μm diameters and ~10 μm pitch following fiber drawing with a cladding glass into an all-solid multicore fiber. A polished 5 mm × 5 mm array of 100 microstructured multicore SCIFI pixels was fabricated into a 1 mm thick faceplate. The neutron efficiency and light yield of the faceplate are characterized as functions of the 7.38 weight percent of Li 2 O, thickness, and the 70% active volume. It was determined that approximately 39% of a thermal neutron (2 Å) beam can be absorbed by the faceplate. The reaction is estimated to produce 7,700 ± 1,000 scintillation photons per event, referencing light collection from 241 Am irradiation of the faceplate. Simulations suggest that on average 17.5 ± 1.4% of these photons will be transported to an end of the fiber array for a thermal beam, with at least 7.2% of that total scintillation light being confined into the fiber cores in which it originated. The SCIFI faceplate was integrated into the Neutron Microscope (NM) at the Pulse OverLap DIffractometer (POLDI) beamline located at the Paul Scherrer Institut to image a Siemens star test object. Processed neutron radiographs acquired with the proof-of-concept faceplate resolved features at a state-of-the-art resolution of 16.1 ± 0.5 μm. The potential for even high resolution designs having smaller pitch or different cladding material is discussed.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[4];
[5];
[1]
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland)
- Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
- Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
- Univ. of Southampton (United Kingdom)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1802084
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0010314
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Lightwave Technology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 37; Journal Issue: 22; Journal ID: ISSN 0733-8724
- Publisher:
- IEEE
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION
Citation Formats
Moore, Michael E., Trtik, Pavel, Lousteau, Joris, Pugliese, Diego, Brambilla, Gilberto, and Hayward, Jason P. Neutron Imaging With Li-Glass Based Multicore SCIntillating FIber (SCIFI). United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1109/jlt.2019.2934497.
Moore, Michael E., Trtik, Pavel, Lousteau, Joris, Pugliese, Diego, Brambilla, Gilberto, & Hayward, Jason P. Neutron Imaging With Li-Glass Based Multicore SCIntillating FIber (SCIFI). United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/jlt.2019.2934497
Moore, Michael E., Trtik, Pavel, Lousteau, Joris, Pugliese, Diego, Brambilla, Gilberto, and Hayward, Jason P. Mon .
"Neutron Imaging With Li-Glass Based Multicore SCIntillating FIber (SCIFI)". United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/jlt.2019.2934497. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1802084.
@article{osti_1802084,
title = {Neutron Imaging With Li-Glass Based Multicore SCIntillating FIber (SCIFI)},
author = {Moore, Michael E. and Trtik, Pavel and Lousteau, Joris and Pugliese, Diego and Brambilla, Gilberto and Hayward, Jason P.},
abstractNote = {The improvement of neutron imaging towards and beyond the microscale is a well-documented need for the iterative characterization and modeling of numerous microstructured X-ray opaque materials. This work presents the recent progress in evaluating a SCIntillating FIber (SCIFI) proof-of-concept towards micron-level thermal neutron radiography. These SCIFIs are composed of 6 Li-enriched silicate glass cores doped with a Ce activator. The cores possess ~8.5 μm diameters and ~10 μm pitch following fiber drawing with a cladding glass into an all-solid multicore fiber. A polished 5 mm × 5 mm array of 100 microstructured multicore SCIFI pixels was fabricated into a 1 mm thick faceplate. The neutron efficiency and light yield of the faceplate are characterized as functions of the 7.38 weight percent of Li 2 O, thickness, and the 70% active volume. It was determined that approximately 39% of a thermal neutron (2 Å) beam can be absorbed by the faceplate. The 6 L i ( n , α ) t reaction is estimated to produce 7,700 ± 1,000 scintillation photons per event, referencing light collection from 241 Am irradiation of the faceplate. Simulations suggest that on average 17.5 ± 1.4% of these photons will be transported to an end of the fiber array for a thermal beam, with at least 7.2% of that total scintillation light being confined into the fiber cores in which it originated. The SCIFI faceplate was integrated into the Neutron Microscope (NM) at the Pulse OverLap DIffractometer (POLDI) beamline located at the Paul Scherrer Institut to image a Siemens star test object. Processed neutron radiographs acquired with the proof-of-concept faceplate resolved features at a state-of-the-art resolution of 16.1 ± 0.5 μm. The potential for even high resolution designs having smaller pitch or different cladding material is discussed.},
doi = {10.1109/jlt.2019.2934497},
journal = {Journal of Lightwave Technology},
number = 22,
volume = 37,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Aug 12 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Mon Aug 12 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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