NSUF 23-4652: Irradiating a novel thin-film scintillator for neutron radiography

Dr. Zhibin Yu at Florida State University is developing a novel thin-film scintillator using nanomaterials of a transparent boron compound (10B enriched) embedded in an organic phosphor matrix. In comparison to the 6LiF/ZnS and 6LiF/gadolinium oxysulfide scintillators, the new scintillator has a much higher neutron absorption cross-section and a much lower X-ray/gamma ray sensitivity. Moreover, the fluorescent decay constant of the organic phosphor (~ns) is much shorter than the ZnS and gadolinium oxysulfide phosphors (~ µs). Therefore, it is hypothesized that this new thin-film scintillator will lead to better imaging quality and fast response time for next-generation neutron radiography. We aim to test the new scintillator samples and acquire first-hand experimental data at the neutron radiography facility at the Ohio State University. The imaging results will provide essential feedback to understand the fundamental structure-property relationships of the new thin-film scintillator for further performance improvement.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Awarded Institution	Florida State University
Embargo End Date	2025-03-01
Facility Tech Lead	Raymond Cao
Irradiation Facilities	Ohio State University Research Reactor
NSUF Call	FY 2023 RTE 2nd Call
PI	Zhibin Yu
Project Member	Dr. Zhibin Yu, Associate Professor - Florida State University (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4630-4363)
Project Type	RTE