Researchers at Sandia National Laboratory have developed a new technique for radiation detection that can work with plastic and organic scintillators that are used in radiation detection devices.
Sandia says that the metal-organic frameworks, which would include a doping agent, emit red and blue light when they interact with high-energy particles that emanate from radiological or nuclear material, thereby enabling more effective detection of neutrons. The researchers say the primary application of the technology is for the detection of special nuclear materials and that it works quickly and inexpensively.
Plastic scintillators are commonly found in existing radiation portal monitors that are used to detect radiation hidden in cargo and containers.
The work was initially funded by Sandia but subsequent funding was provided by the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which has responsibility in certain major international ports and other global locations for preventing SNMs and other radiological and nuclear materials from being illegally transported.
Now Sandia is seeking commercialization partners for the spectral shape discrimination technology.
The spectral shape discrimination technology allows one particle type to be distinguished from another on the basis of the color of the emitted light, which would allow the sensitivities of detection systems to be increased.
In addition to helping find SNMs, Sandia says the new capability would be useful in radiation detectors for treaty verification.