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

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.