Detection of ionizing radiation in coherent plates of scintillating plastic optical fibers

Fully functional imaging scintillating-glass fiber detectors have been fabricated by our group and operated successfully over many years. In this paper we present our initial efforts to produce coherent fiber-optic tracking detectors based upon organic plastic scintillating fiber materials. The goal is to create devices of relatively large volume that can be used in informal education settings and that likewise permit the imaging of trajectories of ionizing particles in real time as they pass through the material. To improve the rate of particle detection, coherent plates of sizeable volume (25 mm × 25 mm × 100 mm or more) are desirable.