Polyimide-based scintillating thin films

The production procedure and the scintillation characteristics of thin polyimide films containing rhodamine B are reported. Fluorinated polyimide has been chosen as host matrix for its well known radiation hardness, in order to improve the lifetime of detector systems based on plastic thin film scintillators, 6FDA (4,4'-hertafluoroisopropylidene diphthalic anhydride) and DAB (diaminobenzophenone) have been used as polyimide precursor monomers. The samples have been cured in air at temperatures ranging from 80/spl deg/C up to 250/spl deg/C. The scintillation spectra have been collected by irradiating the samples with a 5.478 MeV alpha particle source and their shape and intensity have been investigated as a function of dopant concentration and curing temperature.