Neutron image plates (NIPs) provide the means for two-dimensional, position-sensitive detection of neutrons. Commercially available NIPs consist of a mixture of the neutron converter Gd₂O₃ and the storage phosphor BaFBr:Eu²⁺, dispersed in an organic binder supported by a flexible sheet. Since BaFBr is an excellent storage phosphor for X-rays, these NIPs are prone to the γ-background always present at neutron experiments. In this contribution we present a system of converter (⁶LiF) and storage phosphor (KCl:Eu²⁺ or KBr:Eu²⁺) which shows a high efficiency for the detection of neutrons while at the same time features a low γ-sensitivity due to the low atomic numbers. It was found that storage phosphors mixed with LiF feature a signal per absorbed neutron that is twice as high as those samples containing GdF₃ as converter. This advantage results from a much higher usable energy output of LiF after a neutron absorption reaction. Combining the large signal with the γ-absorption of KCl, which amounts to about 10% of BaFBr, one obtains a neutron equivalent for KCl:Eu²⁺-⁶LiF image plates of 1/20 neutron per photon for soft γ-rays (< 300 keV) while the equivalent for hard γ-quanta (>300 keV) is 1/400 neutron per absorbed photon.
Three different morphologies of NIPs were fabricated based on KCl:Eu²⁺-LiF: polymer supported (P-NIPs), ceramic (C-NIPs) and pixelated (Pix-NIPs) neutron image plates. Pix-NIPs represent a novel morphology in which the scattered light is confined to the cell of a honeycomb structure embedded in the image plate. Due to this confinement, the resolution of such an image plate is primarily independent of scattering properties of the NIP and is primary a function of the size of the honeycomb structure used.
Determining the Detective Quantum Efficiency DQE for a C-NIP consisting of KCl:Eu²⁺-⁶LiF resulted in a value of 38 % which corresponds to an efficiency comparable to commercially available NIPs.

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