Development of a position-sensitive scintillation neutron detector for a new protein single-crystal diffractometer at J-PARC MLF

A high-spatial-resolution, large-area position-sensitive scintillation-based neutron detector module has been developed for a new time-of-flight Laue single-crystal diffractometer to be constructed at J-PARC MLF. A first prototype detector implementing commercial 6Li:ZnS screens was produced based on a scintillator/wavelength-shifting fibre technology. The detector exhibited a spatial resolution of 2.5 mm with a neutron-sensitive area of 320 × 320 mm2. We report on an initial evaluation of the detector performance, including its spatial resolution, detection efficiency and long-term background measurement, and also provide a brief description of a new neutron instrument.