A charge injection device (CID) camera and image processing system have been used as a position sensitive detector for energetic charged particles and low energy neutrons. This video radiation detector (VRD) is simple in design but highly effective for real-time radiography and dosimetry with many advantages characteristics. The VRD currently has a dynamic range of 65,000 intensity levels for a 755 X 484 pixel matrix, an active area of 7 mm X 9 mm, a spatial mapping resolution of about 14 micrometers for single detected events (7 micrometers for radiation from a point source), and is sufficiently radiation-hard to be operated in a neutron beam for extended periods of time. Radiation images are updated at a rate of thirty frames per second. The VRD is sensitive to fission fragments, alpha particles, and slow neutrons. Using commercially available image processing hardware and software and an off-the-shelf camera, the system is inexpensive, easy to use with simple interpretation of data, and is capable of performing radiography with only minimal adaptations. Applications in our laboratory include the characterization of focused cold neutron beams, the mapping of uranium and lithium distributions in samples by the detection of neutron absorption reaction products, and the mapping of spontaneous alpha radioactivity from environmental samples. Results provide information on x-y position, counts received, and energy deposited per count, each as a function of time.

Date Published: 2 February 1993
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 1737, Neutrons, X Rays, and Gamma Rays: Imaging Detectors, Material Characterization Techniques, and Applications, (2 February 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.138672

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1737:
Neutrons, X Rays, and Gamma Rays: Imaging Detectors, Material Characterization Techniques, and Applications
John M. Carpenter; David B. Cline; Richard C. Lanza; David F. R. Mildner, Editor(s)