A NEW HIGH ENERGY RADIATION DETECTOR DEVICE

CURRENT HIGH ENERGY RADIATION DETECTOR DEVICES, SUCH AS SCINTILLATORS, SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS AND GAS IONIZATION DETECTORS, CANNOT SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDE HIGH SPEED AND HIGHENERGY RESOLUTION MEASUREMENTS. MANY APPLICATIONS (E.G., IMPROVED NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS) WILL EMERGE IF RADIATION DETECTORS WITH BOTH FAST RESPONSE AND HIGH RESOLUTION COULD BE DEVELOPED. POLYSILYLENES, EMPLOYED AS SCINTILLATORS, HAVE THE POTENTIALTO PROVIDE A FAST RESPONSE, HIGH RESOLUTION RADIATION DETECTOR CAPABILITY. HIGHER FLUORESCENCE QUANTUM YIELDS ANDLOWER IONIZATION POTENTIALS HAVE BEEN MEASURED, RELATIVE TO OTHER ORGANIC SCINTILLATORS, INDICATING A CAPABILITY TO MATCH THE HIGH ENERGY RESOLUTION CAPABILITY OF INORGANIC MATERIALS. FLUORESCENT DECAY TIMES ARE FASTER THAN THOSE OF THE BETTER ORGANIC FLUORS INDICATING A FAST TIME RESOLUTION CAPABILITY. LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYSILYLENES WILL BE CHARACTERIZED AS SCINTILLATOR SOLVENTS THROUGH SPECTROSCOPY AND PHOTOPHYSIC MEASUREMENTS. HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYSILYLENES WILL BE EVALUATED AS FLUORS FOR LIQUID POLYSILYLENE AND AROMATIC SOLVENTS BY MEASURING SPECTRA AND FLUORESCENCE QUANTUM EFFICIENCIES. ENERGY TRANSFER RATES WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOR POLYSILYLENE SOLUTES. A COMPARISON OF SCINTILLATION PULSE AMPLITUDES AND AGAINST A TOLUENE-BASED SCINTILLATOR WILL BE MADE FOR PROMISING SYSTEMS TO ESTABLISH POTENTIAL. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE PHOTOPHYSICS OF POLYSILYLENES AND IS WELL QUALIFIED TO CONDUCT THIS INVESTIGATION.