PSD study of CsI:Tl microcrystals based 3D printed scintillator

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2025-03, Vol.1072, p.170177, Article 170177
• Main Authors: Pandya, Divya, Oad, Nisha, Rawat, Sheetal, Tripathi, Brijesh, Chahal, Sonu, Gurrala, Pavan Kumar, Tyagi, Mohit
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0168-9002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2024.170177

Pulse Shape Discrimination (PSD) holds significant value across diverse applications, including national security, monitoring of nuclear facilities, high-energy physics experiments, oil exploration and logging, as well as medical imaging. Thallium-doped Cesium Iodide (CsI:Tl) has proven to be a benchmark charged particle detector for bulk applications, while thin-films and nanoparticles continue to captivate scientific interest. However, conventional fabrication methods for CsI:Tl thin-films face challenges such as slow processing times and the requirement of high-temperature furnaces, thus motivating the exploration of additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing techniques. Here we fabricate thin-film of CsI:Tl with a thickness of 200 μm (0.2 mm) using Digital Light Processing (DLP), a widely adopted 3D printing method. The decay times of α and γ are analyzed, and based on pulse shape difference, a charge integration method for PSD is employed for α-γ and α-β discrimination using the 3D printed CsI:Tl thin film detector setup. The results demonstrate better Figure of Merit (FOM) for α–β compared to α-γ PSD, indicating a higher energy deposition by charged particles. This study paves the way for researchers to utilise AM techniques to produce cost-effective, versatile, and efficient scintillation thin-film detectors for PSD in mixed radiation environment.