Lithium indium diselenide: A new scintillator for neutron imaging

Eric Lukosi; Elan Herrera; Daniel Hamm; Kyung Min Lee; Brenden Wiggins; Pavel Trtik; Dayakar Penumadu; Stephen Young; Louis Santodonato; Hassina Bilheux; Arnold Burger; Liviu Matei; Ashley C. Stowe

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.063

Lithium indium diselenide: A new scintillator for neutron imaging

Eric Lukosi, Elan Herrera, Daniel Hamm, Kyung Min Lee, Brenden Wiggins, Pavel Trtik, Dayakar Penumadu, Stephen Young, Louis Santodonato, Hassina Bilheux, Arnold Burger, Liviu Matei, Ashley C. Stowe

Materials Engineering

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13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Lithium indium diselenide, ⁶LiInSe₂ or LISe, is a newly developed neutron detection material that shows both semiconducting and scintillating properties. This paper reports on the performance of scintillating LISe crystals for its potential use as a converter screen for cold neutron imaging. The spatial resolution of LISe, determined using a 10% threshold of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), was found to not scale linearly with thickness. Crystals having a thickness of 450 μm or larger resulted in an average spatial resolution of 67 μm, and the thinner crystals exhibited an increase in spatial resolution down to the Nyquist frequency of the CCD. The highest measured spatial resolution of 198 μm thick LISe (27 μm) outperforms a commercial 50 μm thick ZnS(Cu):⁶LiF scintillation screen by more than a factor of three. For the LISe dimensions considered in this study, it was found that the light yield of LISe did not scale with its thickness. However, absorption measurements indicate that the ⁶Li concentration is uniform and the neutron absorption efficiency of LISe as a function of thickness follows general nuclear theory. This suggests that the differences in apparent brightness observed for the LISe samples investigated may be due to a combination of secondary charged particle escape, scintillation light transport in the bulk and across the LISe-air interface, and variations in the activation of the scintillation mechanism. Finally, it was found that the presence of ¹¹⁵In and its long-lived ¹¹⁶In activation product did not result in ghosting (memory of past neutron exposure), demonstrating potential of LISe for imaging transient systems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	140-149
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Volume	830
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.063
State	Published - Sep 11 2016

Funding

This work was supported through subcontract number 4300090406 from CNS Y-12 National Security Complex and this material is based upon work supported under a Department of Energy Nuclear Energy University Programs Graduate Fellowship , award number DE-NE0000094 . A portion of this research used resources at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Part of this work is based on experiments performed at the Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI, Switzerland.

Keywords

Cold neutrons
LISe
Lithium indium diselenide
Neutron detection
Neutron imaging
Scintillator

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10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.063

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Lukosi, E., Herrera, E., Hamm, D., Lee, K. M., Wiggins, B., Trtik, P., Penumadu, D., Young, S., Santodonato, L., Bilheux, H., Burger, A., Matei, L., & Stowe, A. C. (2016). Lithium indium diselenide: A new scintillator for neutron imaging. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 830, 140-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.063

@article{9939b5d9899549c4afc700fb2adceaab,

title = "Lithium indium diselenide: A new scintillator for neutron imaging",

abstract = "Lithium indium diselenide, 6LiInSe2 or LISe, is a newly developed neutron detection material that shows both semiconducting and scintillating properties. This paper reports on the performance of scintillating LISe crystals for its potential use as a converter screen for cold neutron imaging. The spatial resolution of LISe, determined using a 10% threshold of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), was found to not scale linearly with thickness. Crystals having a thickness of 450 μm or larger resulted in an average spatial resolution of 67 μm, and the thinner crystals exhibited an increase in spatial resolution down to the Nyquist frequency of the CCD. The highest measured spatial resolution of 198 μm thick LISe (27 μm) outperforms a commercial 50 μm thick ZnS(Cu):6LiF scintillation screen by more than a factor of three. For the LISe dimensions considered in this study, it was found that the light yield of LISe did not scale with its thickness. However, absorption measurements indicate that the 6Li concentration is uniform and the neutron absorption efficiency of LISe as a function of thickness follows general nuclear theory. This suggests that the differences in apparent brightness observed for the LISe samples investigated may be due to a combination of secondary charged particle escape, scintillation light transport in the bulk and across the LISe-air interface, and variations in the activation of the scintillation mechanism. Finally, it was found that the presence of 115In and its long-lived 116In activation product did not result in ghosting (memory of past neutron exposure), demonstrating potential of LISe for imaging transient systems.",

keywords = "Cold neutrons, LISe, Lithium indium diselenide, Neutron detection, Neutron imaging, Scintillator",

author = "Eric Lukosi and Elan Herrera and Daniel Hamm and Lee, {Kyung Min} and Brenden Wiggins and Pavel Trtik and Dayakar Penumadu and Stephen Young and Louis Santodonato and Hassina Bilheux and Arnold Burger and Liviu Matei and Stowe, {Ashley C.}",

year = "2016",

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doi = "10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.063",

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Lukosi, E, Herrera, E, Hamm, D, Lee, KM, Wiggins, B, Trtik, P, Penumadu, D, Young, S, Santodonato, L, Bilheux, H, Burger, A, Matei, L & Stowe, AC 2016, 'Lithium indium diselenide: A new scintillator for neutron imaging', Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 830, pp. 140-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2016.05.063

TY - JOUR

T1 - Lithium indium diselenide

T2 - A new scintillator for neutron imaging

AU - Lukosi, Eric

AU - Herrera, Elan

AU - Hamm, Daniel

AU - Lee, Kyung Min

AU - Wiggins, Brenden

AU - Trtik, Pavel

AU - Penumadu, Dayakar

AU - Young, Stephen

AU - Santodonato, Louis

AU - Bilheux, Hassina

AU - Burger, Arnold

AU - Matei, Liviu

AU - Stowe, Ashley C.

PY - 2016/9/11

Y1 - 2016/9/11

N2 - Lithium indium diselenide, 6LiInSe2 or LISe, is a newly developed neutron detection material that shows both semiconducting and scintillating properties. This paper reports on the performance of scintillating LISe crystals for its potential use as a converter screen for cold neutron imaging. The spatial resolution of LISe, determined using a 10% threshold of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), was found to not scale linearly with thickness. Crystals having a thickness of 450 μm or larger resulted in an average spatial resolution of 67 μm, and the thinner crystals exhibited an increase in spatial resolution down to the Nyquist frequency of the CCD. The highest measured spatial resolution of 198 μm thick LISe (27 μm) outperforms a commercial 50 μm thick ZnS(Cu):6LiF scintillation screen by more than a factor of three. For the LISe dimensions considered in this study, it was found that the light yield of LISe did not scale with its thickness. However, absorption measurements indicate that the 6Li concentration is uniform and the neutron absorption efficiency of LISe as a function of thickness follows general nuclear theory. This suggests that the differences in apparent brightness observed for the LISe samples investigated may be due to a combination of secondary charged particle escape, scintillation light transport in the bulk and across the LISe-air interface, and variations in the activation of the scintillation mechanism. Finally, it was found that the presence of 115In and its long-lived 116In activation product did not result in ghosting (memory of past neutron exposure), demonstrating potential of LISe for imaging transient systems.

AB - Lithium indium diselenide, 6LiInSe2 or LISe, is a newly developed neutron detection material that shows both semiconducting and scintillating properties. This paper reports on the performance of scintillating LISe crystals for its potential use as a converter screen for cold neutron imaging. The spatial resolution of LISe, determined using a 10% threshold of the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), was found to not scale linearly with thickness. Crystals having a thickness of 450 μm or larger resulted in an average spatial resolution of 67 μm, and the thinner crystals exhibited an increase in spatial resolution down to the Nyquist frequency of the CCD. The highest measured spatial resolution of 198 μm thick LISe (27 μm) outperforms a commercial 50 μm thick ZnS(Cu):6LiF scintillation screen by more than a factor of three. For the LISe dimensions considered in this study, it was found that the light yield of LISe did not scale with its thickness. However, absorption measurements indicate that the 6Li concentration is uniform and the neutron absorption efficiency of LISe as a function of thickness follows general nuclear theory. This suggests that the differences in apparent brightness observed for the LISe samples investigated may be due to a combination of secondary charged particle escape, scintillation light transport in the bulk and across the LISe-air interface, and variations in the activation of the scintillation mechanism. Finally, it was found that the presence of 115In and its long-lived 116In activation product did not result in ghosting (memory of past neutron exposure), demonstrating potential of LISe for imaging transient systems.

KW - Cold neutrons

KW - LISe

KW - Lithium indium diselenide

KW - Neutron detection

KW - Neutron imaging

KW - Scintillator

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VL - 830

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JO - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

JF - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment

ER -

Lithium indium diselenide: A new scintillator for neutron imaging

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