Patent ID: 7521686

Claim:
A directional fast neutron detector, comprising: a) a plurality of layers of material arranged in an order, each of the plurality of layers having a predetermined thickness and a composition selected from the group consisting of: i) a hydrogenous non-scintillating converter material operable to produce a recoil proton when a fast neutron is incident therein; ii) a non-hydrogenous scintillating material operable to generate a scintillation light when the recoil proton loses energy therein; and iii) a non-hydrogenous non-scintillating barrier material operable to act as a barrier to passage of the recoil proton therethrough; and b) at least one light collection device located along the periphery of the layers for producing a signal when the scintillation light generated by the non-hydrogenous scintillating material is incident thereon, wherein the composition, order, and thickness of each of the plurality of layers allows the general direction of incoming incident fast neutrons to be established.