Fabrication and experimental evaluation of microstructured 6Li silicate fiber arrays for high spatial resolution neutron imaging

This work presents the fabrication and experimental evaluation of instrumentation designed to enable higher spatial resolution neutron radiography for those performing research at neutron scattering facilities. Herein, we describe a proof-of-concept array of microstructured silicate fibers with 6Li doped cores that shows progress towards a design for μm resolution neutron radiography. The multicore fiber was fabricated by drawing stacked unit elements of Guardian Glass (Nucsafe Inc., Oak Ridge, TN, USA), a 6Li scintillating core glass, and a silicate cladding glass. These structured fibers function as an array of sub-10-μm waveguides for scintillation light. Measurements have shown a significantly increased integrated charge distribution in response to neutrons, and the spatial resolution of the radiographs is described by edge response and line spread functions of 48 ± 4 μm and 59 ± 8 μm, respectively.