Pixelated plastic scintillator array manufacturing using fast-, photo-curable resin

Authors

• Chandler J. Moore, Air Force Institute of Technology
• Juan J. Manfredi, Air Force Institute of TechnologyFollow
• Michael T. Febbraro, Air Force Institute of TechnologyFollow
• Daniel Rustrom, Air Force Institute of Technology
• Andrew W. Decker, Defense Threat Reduction Agency
• Ryan A. Kemnitz, Air Force Institute of TechnologyFollow
• T. J. Ruland, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Paul A. Hausladen, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-7-2026

Abstract

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 × 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.

Comments

The full text of this article (published version of record) is available by subscription or purchase using the DOI link on this page.

An open-access manuscript of the article is hosted at the arXiv.org e-print repository, at  arXiv:2604.23769 [physics.ins-det]

Co-author M. Febbraro was co-affiliated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

DOI

10.1016/j.nima.2026.171549

Source Publication

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment (ISSN 0168-9002)

Recommended Citation

Moore, C. J., Manfredi, J. J., Febbraro, M., Rutstrom, D., Decker, A., Kemnitz, R., Ruland, T., & Hausladen, P. A. (2026). Pixelated plastic scintillator array manufacturing using fast-, photo-curable resin. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1088(August), 171549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2026.171549