Pixelated plastic scintillator arrays can serve as high efficiency and high resolution neutron imaging detectors. Manufacturing these arrays is intensive in both time and labor. This work presents a fabrication method based on additive manufacturing for two-dimensional plastic organic scintillator arrays using a custom-built automated assembly machine and a custom photocurable resin that has significant non-aromatic acrylate oligomer content. The process involves two main stages: fully autonomous production of one-dimensional layered arrays, followed by semi-autonomous cutting and stacking to form two-dimensional pixel arrays. One-dimensional arrays were manufactured at a rate of around 4 layers per hour with minimal defects and tight dimensional tolerances, while two-dimensional arrays up to 7 x 7 pixels and 70 mm in length were completed in approximately 3.5 hours. Final arrays exhibited dimensional deviations of less than 0.5 mm. Two-dimensional arrays read out by a multi-anode photomultiplier tube demonstrated per-pixel position resolution and pulse-shape discrimination, enabling gamma-neutron interaction separation in mixed radiation environments.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.23769,
title = {Pixelated Plastic Scintillator Array Manufacturing using Fast-, Photo-Curable Resin},
author = {Chandler Moore and Juan Manfredi and Michael Febbraro and Daniel Rutstrom and Andrew Decker and Ryan Kemnitz and Thomas Ruland and Paul Hausladen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.23769},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
42 pages, 21 figures, Published in Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 1 April 2026