Neutron imaging with Micromegas detectors with optical readout

Abstract

Optical readout of Micromegas gaseous detectors has been achieved by implementing a Micromegas detector on a glass substrate with a glass anode and a CMOS camera. Efficient X-ray radio-graphy has been demonstrated due to the integrated imaging approach inherent to optical readout. High granularity values have been reached for low-energy X-rays from radioactive sources and X-ray generators taking advantage of image sensors with several megapixel resolution. Detector characterization under X-ray radiography opens the way to different applications from beta imaging to neutron radiography. Here we will focus on one application: neutron imaging for non-destructive examination of highly gamma-ray emitting objects. This article reports the characterization of the detectors when exposed to a low activity neutron source. The response of the detector to thermal neutrons has been studied with different field configurations and gap thicknesses.