A two-dimensional scintillation-based neutron detector with wavelength-shifting fibers and incorporating an interpolation method

Abstract

A two-dimensional scintillation-based neutron detector with wavelength-shifting (WLS) fibers was developed that incorporated a novel data interpolation method. The interpolation method, which was developed for a photon-counting detector, produced an effective pixel size smaller than the physical pitch of the WLS fibers in the array. The WLS-fibers array was constructed by placing fibers at a regular pitch of 2.5mm in both the x and y directions. The two crossed fiber arrays were sandwiched with two scintillator screens. Detectors with half- and quarter-pitch calculation logics exhibited spatial resolutions of 2.7±0.1 and 2.5±0.1mm, respectively, for the full width at half maximum (for a 1-mm beam width). The corresponding effective pixel sizes were 1.25 and 0.625mm. The measured spatial resolutions were approximately 1.3-fold better than that with the standard-pitch calculation logic. The presented results demonstrate the feasibility of using the developed interpolation method with a collimated neutron beam.