Advanced readout methods for superheated emulsion detectors

Superheated emulsions develop visible vapor bubbles when exposed to ionizing radiation. They consist in droplets of a metastable liquid, emulsified in an inert matrix. The formation of a bubble cavity is accompanied by sound waves. Evaporated bubbles also exhibit a lower refractive index, compared to the inert gel matrix. These two physical phenomena have been exploited to count the number of evaporated bubbles and thus measure the interacting radiation flux. Systems based on piezoelectric transducers have been traditionally used to acquire the acoustic (pressure) signals generated by bubble evaporation. Such systems can operate at ambient noise levels exceeding 100 dB; however, they are affected by a significant dead time (>10 ms). An optical readout technique relying on the scattering of light by neutron-induced bubbles has been recently improved in order to minimize measurement dead time and ambient noise sensitivity. Beams of infra-red light from light-emitting diode (LED) sources cross the active are...