Sealed Boron-Coated Straws for Neutron Imaging - Proportional ...

Sealed Boron-Coated Straws for Neutron Imaging

Proportional Technologies, Inc.’s Boron-Coated Straw (BCS)
detectors are now offered in a sealed package, operable in
vacuum environments, readily scalable to replace positionsensitive
3 He tubes in neutron science instruments.
Features
& Benefits
Stability
Sealed-mode
operation offers
reliable performance
Scalability
Standard lengths up
to 3 m, can be closepacked
to form large
panels
Maturity
BCS detectors are
currently employed in
a host of applications,
including portal
monitors, fission
counters, handhelds,
etc.
Low Cost
Automated
fabrication - low cost
materials
Detection efficiency
Comparable to 3 He
tubes through use of
multiple individually
decoded layers
Gamma
discrimination
Gamma Rejection 10 -7
– 10 -10
Fast
Supports up to 40
fold higher Bragg
peak rates without
saturation
Boron-coated straws are 7.5
mm in diameter and coated
on the inside with a pure,
micron-thick layer of 10 B-
enriched boron carbide
( 10 B 4 C). Their unique design
eliminates the efficiency
deficit of traditional boronlined
counters, offering a
drop-in replacement to 3 He
tubes.
BCS detectors are now
offered in a package that
groups 7 inside a single
sealed aluminum tube.
The tube is 25.4 mm (1”) in
diameter, with an active
length up to 3 m, and allows
operation in vacuum
environments for indefinite
periods of time.
We are pleased to offer
demonstration units for
evaluation in single tube or 7
tube (49 straw) packs in
lengths up to 2 meters.

Detection efficiency
Sealed Boron-Coated Straws for Neutron Imaging
80
1.0 mm thick coating
70
60
50
40
30
10 Angstrom
5
2.5
1.8
1.3
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of bundle layers
Specifications:
• Materials:
o Gas Containment Tube: 6061 T6 Aluminum
o Straws (7×): Highly durable PVD-coated 1-µm-thick 10 B 4 C-coated (>95%
enriched) high purity copper or aluminum foil
o Anode Wire: 20 µm diameter resistive wire, 4.3 kΩ/m
• Gas containment tube:
o Dimensions: 25.4 mm diameter (D t ) × 0.88 mm wall thickness (W t ), up to 3 m
active length (0.50 mm wall by special order)
o Effective aluminum depth per tube = πW t = 2.8 mm for W t =0.88 mm (1.6 mm for
W t =0.50 mm)
• Straws (7x):
o Dimensions: 7.5 mm (D s ) × 0.05 mm wall thickness (W s ), up to 3 m active length
o Effective aluminum depth per 7-straw tube = 7πD s W s /D t = 0.33 mm
• Weight (single 7 straw tube, 2 m long): 543 g (1.20 lbs)
• Fill gas: Argon-CO 2, pressure 0.7 atm
• Operating voltage: 1000 Volts
• Spatial resolution (by charge division): FWHM < 1% of length over full detector length
e.g. 1.5 meter detector < 15 mm, resolution voxel 7.5 × 7.5 ×

8022 El Rio Street
Houston, TX 77054
Tel: +1 (713) 747-7324
Fax: +1 (713) 747-7325
E-mail: sales@proportionaltech.com
Web: http://www.proportionaltech.com