Melt-Cast Organic Glass Scintillators for a Handheld Dual Particle Imager

The light output, time resolution, pulse shape discrimination (PSD), neutron light output, and interaction position reconstruction of melt-cast small-molecule organic glass bar scintillators were measured. The trans-stilbene organic scintillator detects fast neutrons and gamma rays with high efficiency and exhibits excellent PSD, but the manufacturing process is slow and expensive and its light output in response to neutrons is anisotropic. Small-molecule organic glass bars offer an easy-to-implement and cost-effective solution to these problems. These properties were characterized to evaluate the efficacy of constructing a compact, low-voltage neutron and gamma-ray imaging system using organic glass bars coupled to silicon photomultiplier arrays. A complete facility for melt-casting organic glass scintillators was setup at the University of Michigan. 6 × 6 × 50 mm
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glass bars were produced and the properties listed above were characterized. The first neutron image using organic glass was produced in simple backprojection.