System Selection Guide

Neutrons have mass but no electrical charge. Because of this they cannot directly produce ionization in a detector, and therefore cannot be directly detected. This means that neutron detectors must rely upon a conversion process where an incident neutron interacts with a nucleus to produce a secondary charged particle. These charged particles are then directly detected and from them the presence of neutrons is deduced.

The choice of a particular detector type for an application depends upon the X-ray or gamma energy range of interest and the application’s resolution and efficiency requirements.

Mirion offers two types of silicon charged particle detectors to cover a wide range of applications. 

Before exploring the various ways that radiation is used in and affects the world around you, it’s important to have a general understanding of what radiation is and how it works on a fundamental level.