Article published Nondestructive testing
High-efficiency neutron detector
Multiple advantages: excellent detection performance, high resolution, small footprint well suited for a wide variety of environments, at an attractive cost.
Neutron scattering is a material analysis technique conventionally used in industry The information obtained on the structure of the material is comparable with and supplements that obtained using light diffusion or X-ray diffusion techniques. Due to the low neutron interaction and the broad range of wavelengths possible, this nondestructive technique provides a high material penetration depth (up to a few centimeters) and can be used to probe scales ranging from interatomic distances (one Angstrom) to several thousand Angstroms. However, existing detectors are large and expensive. “Our neutron-based detection system weighs 25 kg, with shielding included” , explains Patrick Baroni, researcher at CEA IRAMIS*, one of the patent holders. Nevertheless, it is as sensitive as the best detectors currently available (detection threshold of less than 10 neutrons/cm2/s), with high location accuracy on a detection matrix easily switchable between 520x520 and 1024x1024 pixels, each measuring from 0.06 to 1 mm2. Its performance characteristics make it possible to obtain 2D scattering images practically in real time”. The device is already being used to characterize crystalline structures and the organization of industrial polymers such as Teflon.
* Saclay Institute of Matter and Radiation, comprising the Léon Brillouin Laboratory (CEA-CNRS).
