A wearable sensor based on CLYC scintillators

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.03.034· OSTI ID:1253854

McDonald, Benjamin S. ^[1]; Myjak, Mitchell J. ^[1]; Zalavadia, Mital A. ^[1]; Smart, John E. ^[1]; Willett, Jesse A. ^[1]; Landgren, Peter C. ^[1]; Greulich, Christopher R. ^[1]

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1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

We developed a wearable radiation sensor using Cs₂LiYCl₆:Ce (CLYC) for simultaneous gamma-ray and neutron detection. The system includes two ø2.5×2.5 cm³ crystals coupled to small, metal-body photomultiplier tubes. A custom, low-power electronics base digitizes the output signal at three time points and enables both pulse height and pulse shape discrimination of neutrons and gamma-rays. Data, including spectra, can be transferred via a wired or wireless connection. The total gamma-ray and neutron counts, anomaly detection metrics, and identified isotopes are displayed on a small screen on the device. Users may leave the system in unattended mode to collect long-dwell energy spectra. The prototype system has overall dimensions of 13×7.5×18 cm³ and weight of 1.3 kg, not including the protective pouch, and runs on six AA alkaline batteries for 29 hours with a 1% wireless transmission duty cycle and 41 hours with the wireless turned off . In this paper, we summarize the system design and present characterization results from the detector modules. The energy resolution is about 6.5% full width at half maximum at 662 keV due to the small photomultiplier tube selected, and the linearity and pulse shape discrimination performance are very good.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1253854
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-113450; 400403909
• Journal Information: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 821, Issue C; ISSN 0168-9002
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CLYC
Wearable
Low Power
Unattended Sensor
Gamma ray
Neutron
Anomaly Detection
Radioisotope Identification