The First Application of a Gd₃Al₂Ga₃O₁₂:Ce Single-Crystal Scintillator to Neutron Radiography

Neutron radiography is regarded as complementary to X-ray radiography in terms of transmittance through materials, but its spatial resolution is still insufficient. In order to achieve higher resolution in neutron imaging, several approaches have been adopted, such as optical magnification and event centroiding. In this paper, the authors focused on modification of the scintillator. A Gd₃Al₂Ga₃O₁₂:Ce single-crystal scintillator was applied to neutron radiography for the first time and a spatial resolution of 10.5 μm was achieved. The results indicate that this material can be a powerful candidate for a new neutron scintillator providing a resolution in micrometer order by optimizing the optical system and increasing the scintillator luminosity.