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Evaluation of different scintillators for 1MV NDE x-ray imaging

X-ray radiography is an important and frequently used NDE method of testing metal structures, such as tube welding quality, cracks and voids in cast iron or other metals. It gives fast and visible answer for structural defects. The Varian high energy portal imagers on Clinacs used in cancer treatment were tested for this purpose. We compared the traditional Gadox (LANEX) screen with and without a 1mm Cu buildup plate as used clinically. We also tested different hybrid scintillators, which consisted of different phosphor layers deposited onto fiberoptic plates. The last screen tested was a 2cm thick fiberoptic plate which contained scintillating fibers. The sensitivity (ADU = number of digital counts per a given X-ray dose), the resolution (MTF – modulation transfer function) and the DQE (detective quantum efficiency) were compared, with a 1 MV source, for these X-ray conversion screens. We found that the additional 1mm Cu plate, which improves the absorption and the contrast at 6 or higher energy MeV imaging, does not improve the image quality at 1MV. Rather it attenuates the X-rays, resulting in lower sensitivity and a lower DQE(0) of 2.2% with the additional Cu plate compared to DQE(0) of ~4% without the Cu plate. The hybrid scintillators with evaporated phosphors on fiberoptic plates tested were too thin resulting in low sensitivity. The best results were obtained from the thick scintillating fiberoptic screens, which provided the best DQE and high resolution with the 1MV X-ray beam. Further optimization is planned by changing the thickness of the scintillating fiber optic plate.