  Fast neutron detection is often based on the neutron-proton elastic
scattering reaction: the ionization caused by recoil protons in a hydrogenous
material constitutes the basic information for the design and development of a
class of neutron detectors. Although experimental techniques have continuously
improved, proton-recoil track imaging remains still at the frontier of
n-detection systems, due to the high photon sensitivity required. Several
state-of-the-art approaches for neutron tracking by using n-p single and double
scattering - referred to as Recoil Proton Track Imaging (RPTI) - can be found
in the literature. So far, they have showed limits in terms of detection
efficiency, complexity, cost, and implementation. In order to address some of
these deficiencies, we have proposed RIPTIDE a novel recoil-proton track
imaging detector in which the light output produced by a fast scintillator is
used to perform a complete reconstruction in space and time of the interaction
events. The proposed idea is viable thanks to the dramatic advances in low
noise and single photon counting achieved in the last decade by new scientific
CMOS cameras as well as pixel sensors, like Timepix or MIMOSIS. In this
contribution, we report the advances on the RIPTIDE concept: Geant4 Monte Carlo
simulations, light collection tests as well as state-of-the-art approach to
image readout, processing and fast analysis.
