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Neutron personal dosimetry is essential for monitoring workers exposed to neutron radiation, from those in the nuclear industry to surgeons and other healthcare professionals. In addition, the growth of protons and heavy ions therapy techniques, where neutrons are originated as parasitic radiation without therapeutic effect, makes necessary to measure neutron doses in patients. Consequently, new techniques and devices are continuously being developed and refined to increase sensitivity to a wider range of energies. Conventional neutron detectors have long been used to measure neutron radiation, but most of them are bulky and have limited sensitivity across a broad range of neutron energies, particularly with lower-energy thermal neutrons. Hence, smart solutions are required for the rapid development of compact, lightweight, and versatile neutron detectors.
3D-printing has arisen as a versatile manufacturing technology where small parts (with in-plane resolutions up to 25 microns) can be fabricated with custom materials via light-based approaches, which provide advantages over filament-based approaches in terms of fabrication time and resolution. 3D-printing offers a promising approach to address the limitations associated with neutron detectors enabling the rapid prototyping and customization of neutron detectors with complex geometries. By integrating 3D-printed materials as neutron converters, it is possible to create lightweight, portable detectors with enhanced sensitivity and specific energy ranges, making them suitable for neutron dosimetry applications in varied environments.
This work presents the characterization of various thermal neutron sensors by coupling silicon diodes with different 3D-printed converters. The goal is to develop a compact, active detector that offers effective photon discrimination and high sensitivity to thermal neutrons.
Acknowledgements: This work has been partially supported by Spanish project NDOSCOR (PID2021-128346NB-C21/C22, cofounded with FEDER). The authors would like also to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant number EP/W006456/1, who provided funding to realize part of this work