Fabrication and experimental evaluation of microstructured 6Li silicate fiber arrays for high spatial resolution neutron imaging

Michael E. Moore; Joris Lousteau; Pavel Trtik; Hassina Z. Bilheux; Diego Pugliese; Daniel Milanese; Angela T. Simone; Gilberto Brambilla; Jason P. Hayward

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2018.12.010

Fabrication and experimental evaluation of microstructured ⁶Li silicate fiber arrays for high spatial resolution neutron imaging

Michael E. Moore, Joris Lousteau, Pavel Trtik, Hassina Z. Bilheux, Diego Pugliese, Daniel Milanese, Angela T. Simone, Gilberto Brambilla, Jason P. Hayward

Materials Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

This work presents the fabrication and experimental evaluation of instrumentation designed to enable higher spatial resolution neutron radiography for those performing research at neutron scattering facilities. Herein, we describe a proof-of-concept array of microstructured silicate fibers with ⁶Li doped cores that shows progress towards a design for μm resolution neutron radiography. The multicore fiber was fabricated by drawing stacked unit elements of Guardian Glass (Nucsafe Inc., Oak Ridge, TN, USA), a ⁶Li scintillating core glass, and a silicate cladding glass. These structured fibers function as an array of sub-10-μm waveguides for scintillation light. Measurements have shown a significantly increased integrated charge distribution in response to neutrons, and the spatial resolution of the radiographs is described by edge response and line spread functions of 48±4μm and 59±8μm, respectively.

Original language	English
Article number	161695
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	954
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.12.010
State	Published - Feb 21 2020

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences , under Early Career Award no. DE-SC0010314 , and by the Future Photonics Hub (UK EPSRC grant EP/N00762X/1) . This manuscript has been authored in part by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy . The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Early Career Award no. DE-SC0010314, and by the Future Photonics Hub (UK EPSRC grant EP/N00762X/1). Experiments were performed at the Swiss spallation neutron source (SINQ), Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland, and at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This manuscript has been authored in part by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy . The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

Funders	Funder number
DOE Public Access Plan
United States Government
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Science
Basic Energy Sciences	DE-SC0010314
Oak Ridge National Laboratory	DE-AC05-00OR22725
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council	EP/N00762X/1
Paul Scherrer Institut

Keywords

High spatial resolution
Lithium glass
Multicore fiber
Neutron radiography
Optical waveguides
Particle tracking

Access to Document

10.1016/j.nima.2018.12.010

Cite this

Moore, M. E., Lousteau, J., Trtik, P., Bilheux, H. Z., Pugliese, D., Milanese, D., Simone, A. T., Brambilla, G., & Hayward, J. P. (2020). Fabrication and experimental evaluation of microstructured ⁶Li silicate fiber arrays for high spatial resolution neutron imaging. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 954, Article 161695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.12.010

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title = "Fabrication and experimental evaluation of microstructured 6Li silicate fiber arrays for high spatial resolution neutron imaging",

abstract = "This work presents the fabrication and experimental evaluation of instrumentation designed to enable higher spatial resolution neutron radiography for those performing research at neutron scattering facilities. Herein, we describe a proof-of-concept array of microstructured silicate fibers with 6Li doped cores that shows progress towards a design for μm resolution neutron radiography. The multicore fiber was fabricated by drawing stacked unit elements of Guardian Glass (Nucsafe Inc., Oak Ridge, TN, USA), a 6Li scintillating core glass, and a silicate cladding glass. These structured fibers function as an array of sub-10-μm waveguides for scintillation light. Measurements have shown a significantly increased integrated charge distribution in response to neutrons, and the spatial resolution of the radiographs is described by edge response and line spread functions of 48±4μm and 59±8μm, respectively.",

keywords = "High spatial resolution, Lithium glass, Multicore fiber, Neutron radiography, Optical waveguides, Particle tracking",

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Moore, ME, Lousteau, J, Trtik, P, Bilheux, HZ, Pugliese, D, Milanese, D, Simone, AT, Brambilla, G & Hayward, JP 2020, 'Fabrication and experimental evaluation of microstructured ⁶Li silicate fiber arrays for high spatial resolution neutron imaging', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 954, 161695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.12.010

Fabrication and experimental evaluation of microstructured ⁶Li silicate fiber arrays for high spatial resolution neutron imaging. / Moore, Michael E.; Lousteau, Joris; Trtik, Pavel et al.
In: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 954, 161695, 21.02.2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

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AU - Pugliese, Diego

AU - Milanese, Daniel

AU - Simone, Angela T.

AU - Brambilla, Gilberto

AU - Hayward, Jason P.

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Moore ME, Lousteau J, Trtik P, Bilheux HZ, Pugliese D, Milanese D et al. Fabrication and experimental evaluation of microstructured ⁶Li silicate fiber arrays for high spatial resolution neutron imaging. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment. 2020 Feb 21;954:161695. doi: 10.1016/j.nima.2018.12.010