Ultrafast Polysilylene Scintillators

40640 November 12, 1996 Adherent Technologies, Inc. Scintillators have been used for over 90 years to detect ionizing radiation, but solid organic scintillator, commonly used in physics experimentation, suffer from errors caused by pulse pileup. To minimize this problem, this project will examine a new class of polymeric materials which also offer the potential for increased energy resolution and increased light output. These materials have been shown to have very fast fluorescence, and the state from which fluorescence occurs is of molecular size. Because they can be made as high polymers, their efficiency for harvesting radiation deposited energy should be high. This effort will examine those molecular and electronic properties (light yield from radiation excitation, energy capture to their fluorescent state, and self absorption of emitted light) that determine their utility for application to scintillator formulations. Scintillator formulations will be derived from these data and their efficiency in converting radiation deposited energy to light will becompared with more conventional organic scintillator. Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications as described by the awardee: These scintillators should have utility in fast gamma spectroscopy, high-speed counting, and tracer analytical chemistry. Spectroscopy of prompt gamma from neutron exposure has applications in well logging, security, and remote process control.