Online Radiation Beam Tracking by Using Full-Inorganic Scintillating Fibers

Effective online monitoring of the spatial distribution of high-energy radiation is of significant importance in various fields such as medical imaging, high-energy physics, and homeland security. However, achieving radiation detectors with both high sensitivity and minimal disturbance is an enormous challenge. The present study introduces a solution to this bottleneck issue through the development of a full-inorganic scintillating fiber, successfully demonstrating its application in constructing a radiation monitoring device. The scintillating fiber, activated with Ce 3+ and fabricated using the melt-in-tube approach, is lightweight with a density of 2.5 g cm −3 and exhibits efficient scintillating emission with a light yield of 4000 photons MeV −1 . These characteristics enable the achievement of radiation detection with high sensitivity while keeping disturbance to the incident radiation beam at a minimum. Furthermore, 2D and 3D radiation beam monitors are constructed based on these scintillating fibers, facilitating spatial radiation monitoring. The findings demonstrate that full-inorganic scintillating fibers and devices offer a synergistic combination of high sensitivity and negligible disturbances. This progress not only introduces a novel full-inorganic fiber for radiation detection but also suggests promising applications in various nuclear fields where 3D radiation beam tracking is essential.