The performance of an amorphous silicon flat panel for neutron imaging at the PSI NEUTRA facility

The detector is operated at room temperature, which has some influence on the noise. Using the whole dynamic range with a low gain, results in a S/N of up to 30, for normal applications, however, a S/N of about 15-20 is typical. The main drawback of this imaging device is the dynamic range of only 12 bits and the relatively complicated operating system in which different operation modes can be chosen. In 2003, successful experiments were performed with this new device, but it is still in its fledgling stages and improvements from the manufacturer as well as the experience from the NEUTRA team will help to advance this technique for neutron imaging in a most efficient way.