Neutron detection with plastic scintillator
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 5:23 am
Shumlak’s group at the University of Washington have been using an array of plastic scintillation detectors to detect neutrons in their sheared z-pinch experiment. A paper on the detector has just been posted online (https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1ZnJdcPqbanWj) in Nuclear Instruments and Methods A. They used EJ-204 plastic scintillator and logged data using a high speed (2 Gs/s) digital scope. Peaks were detected with a peakfinding program available online. They report no interference from gamma/x-rays and had only an aluminum cover on the scintillator. Their data collection approach is probably beyond the budget of the amateur, but it should be possible to use NIM modules for analog peak detection. For fusor use, one could put a lead shield over the scintillator to block x-rays.I have a large plastic scintillation detector with the equivalent plastic that I picked up on eBay and plan to give this approach a try. I’ll post results when I finally get around to this (among the umpteen other projects on my agenda).