A position-sensitive alpha detector using a thin plastic scintillator combined with a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube

A position-sensitive alpha detector was developed and tested. The alpha detector consists of a thin plastic scintillator, a position-sensitive photomultiplier tube, a position calculation circuit and a personal computer based data acquisition system. Because the thin plastic scintillator has high-detection efficiency for alpha particles while it has low-sensitivity for beta particles or gamma ray, the detector can selectively detect alpha particles with low background counts. The spatial resolution of the detector was approximately 3 mm FWHM. An autoradiographic images of plutonium distribution in the lung of an animal as well as an image of an uranium particle were successively obtained. Spatial and energy distribution of radon daughters could also be measured. We conclude that the developed position-sensitive alpha detector is useful for some applications such as plutonium detection or alpha autoradiography as well as distribution analysis of radon daughters.