Development of the ZnO:Ga nanorod arrays as an alpha particle scintillation screen for the associated particle neutron generator

The development of associated alpha particle scintillation screen that takes into account high spatial resolution, ultrafast temporal resolution, and high signal-to-noise ratio is the key to promote the “fingerprint” technology in the field of explosive detection—the deuterium–tritium (D–T) reaction associated particle neutron generator (APNG). Herein, the highly uniform and densely packed ZnO:Ga nanorod arrays, as designed alpha particle scintillation screen for the APNG, is proposed and prepared on a ZnO-seeded substrate by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering and hydrothermal method. The simulation results show that the theoretical cutoff thickness is 7.6 μm for 3.5 MeV alpha particles, and the increase in array spacing is conducive to suppress transverse light output and improve its light output efficiency and spatial resolution simultaneously. Through hydrogen annealing treatment, the slow decay component is completely suppressed and the integrated intensity of the fast decay component with a rising edge response of 1 ns is significantly enhanced by nine times.