Nuclear Research

To Exceed Expectations

Based on the robust knowledge of scintillation products, customized units for high energy physics experiments or standard designs for conventional research laboratories will help you to reach your objectives. 

 

We have developed specific competencies through a wide range of industrial, medical & security applications (for example, the use in harsh environments for Oil & Gas market). 

 

The Physicists & Engineers at our facilities have also a variety of software and test equipment to help in the design of specific products

DESCANT Neutron Detector Array with BC-537 liquid cell detectors
SPECTROMETER SPI on Integral

The Advantage for Physics Research Projects

  • 6 crystal growth technologies (60-2100°) 
  • 15+ Unique Products – Materials Chemistry 
  • Fluorescence, Optics and Performance Modeling – MCNP, DETECT 
  • Hermetic sealing of crystals to withstand extreme environments (temperature, shock and vibration) 
  • Special Testing Capabilities
    • Low background chamber, Flood Imager, Shock and Vibration Equipment, temperature and humidity test chambers

Combined with our large portfolio of products from the high resolving crystals that are able to reach a 2.5% @ 662keV to the large conventional NaI(Tl) to organic scintillators (plastic, liquid, fiber) and our manufacture capabilities we can support a varied range of research projects.

Detection solutions are often custom engineered to meet the sensitive and critical operating and performance requirements such as detectors for High Energy Physics and Space Science Research.  In parallel, for Standard Laboratories use, we can offer optimized and cost-efficient solutions based on standard products or slightly upgraded designs, without any compromise on the performances. 

We have a long history supporting research in High Energy Physics and providing radiation detection solutions to Space Science Research missions.  Read about projects that we have worked with the principal researcher to design and build the scintillation detector component.

Gamma-ray Coincidence Spectrometer 

Fifteen (15) LaBr3(Ce) detectors (76 S 76 /3,5 /B380) were delivered in 2019 to the Institute of Nuclear Research “Atomki) in Debrecen, Hungary. The design, close to a standard product, integrates a specific selected PMT, to allow fast but high resolving acquisition. The very good stopping power of the material and the off-the-shelf dimensions were other assets that drove the customer's choice for the experiment. Read about Atomki’s new high-resolution LaBr3 spectrometer, which will record gamma–gamma pairs from excited nuclei in the Cern Courier  

Gamma-ray Coincidence Spectrometer made up of Fifteen LaBr3(Ce) detectors (76 S 76 /3,5 /B380) delivered in 2019 to the Institute of Nuclear Research “Atomki)
 

HECTOR (High-Efficiency Total absorption spectrometer) 

High-Efficiency Total absorption spectrometer Array of 16 NaI(Tl) crystals, each 4x8x8 inch in size arranged in a frame to form a cube 16x16x16 inch with a 60mm borehole in the center for beam pipe
NaI(Tl) detector developed at the Nuclear Science Laboratory (NSL) at the University of Notre Dame. It is an array of 16 crystals, each 4x8x8 inch in size. Each crystal is contained in aluminum housing and read by two photomultipliers. The shape of each individual detector was the first challenge. Then the crystals are arranged in a frame to form a cube 16x16x16 inch with a 60mm borehole in the center for beam pipe and target. This was the second challenge with a minimum cushioning around individual crystals, in order to maximize performance. The size of the detector ensures high detection efficiency even for high-energy gamma rays and allows for measurements of the cross-section as low as 10 μb

According to Anna Simon, University of Notre Dame Assistant Professor, the high efficiency of the detector makes it a great tool for measurement of proton and alpha capture reactions that occur in explosive stellar environments where heavy nuclei are produced.
Source: http://blogs.nd.edu/anna-simon/research/hector/

DESCANT Neutron Detector Array

Seventy (70) hexagonal MAB cell detectors filled with up to 2 liters BC-537 deuterated benzene were delivered in 2011 to the University of Guelph for the DESCANT spectrometer.  In order to achieve a close-packed configuration the detectors have five different shapes, all hexagonal with varying degrees of asymmetry.

The deuterated benzene can detect both recoiling electrons from Compton-scattered γ-rays and recoiling deuterons on which neutrons scattered.  Read further about the project at the University of Guelph Physics page  
Seventy (70) hexagonal MAB cell detectors filled with BC-537 delivered in 2011 to the University of Guelph for the DESCANT spectrometer

 

Detection solutions are custom engineered to meet the sensitive and critical operating and performance requirements such as detectors for High Energy Physics and Space Science Research.
18 Element NaI(Tl) Spectrometer built for ORNL with Project team
16 Element Spectrometer built for University of Notre Dame. Saint-Gobain Crystals design and build team
We have a long history of supporting research in High Energy Physics and providing radiation detection solutions to Space Science Research missions.

We have provided scintillation detectors and materials for space missions such as:

BeppoSAX (1996), Lunar Prospector (1998), Mars Odyssey (2001), ESA INTEGRAL (2002), Mercury Messenger (2004), ASTRO-E2 (2005), Curiosity Mars Rover (2011), CALET Calorimetric Electron Telescope (2015)

and been involved in major Nuclear Physics programs to provide the BGO anti-compton shields such as:

EUROGAM, EUROBALL, GASP, GAMMASPHERE.