Organic Glass Scintillators as a Platform for Configurable Radiation Detectors

Organic Glass Scintillators (OGSs) comprise organic small molecules that exhibit stable amorphous properties. Prior work has shown that these materials can provide excellent particle discrimination properties, very fast timing resolution, and scintillation light yields that exceed trans-stilbene single crystals. In this contribution, we will describe the thermomechanical and radiation detection properties of OGSs that are relevant to nuclear physics applications. This includes the configuration of OGSs into specific detector geometries such as high aspect-ratio elements, optical fibers, segmented arrays, and monolithic optical waveguides. Compositional considerations for multi-functional OGS formulations will be provided in the context of fast timing resolution, neutron/gamma discrimination, thermal neutron capture, gamma-ray spectroscopy, and radiation hardness. An OGS-based prototype detector for the Low-Energy Neutron Detector Array (LENDA) at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) will be described as a specific case study.