SCINTILLATING OPTICAL FIBERS

Our company manufactures scintillating optical fibers, which are composed of a core in doped polystyrene with scintillating components. They have the possibility to detect high-energy particles (alpha, beta rays…. X rays).

Two types of scintillating fiber are manufactured S101 with emission in purple and S104 with off-centre emission in blue-green. The fiber absorbs radiations over its whole surface. A part of these radiations is transformed into photons with a very low wavelength. These photons can be absorbed at the specific wavelength of the pigment and re-emitted at a higher wavelength (430nm for S101 and 530nm for S104). This re-emitted light is transmitted to the fiber's extremities. Scintillating optical fibers are used in the detection of nuclear radiations, in the medical field (scanners), as well as in different domains of high energy physics.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Scintillating optical fibers were developped at the beginning of the 1980s by the french CEA in order to fulfil the requirements of high-energy physics experiments. In addition to their great ease of use, and high spped of response, scintillating optical fibers are insensitive to electromagnetic fields and have good resistance to radiations (About 1KGy). These properties are particularly valuable in the environment of particle collision equipments.