Mapping the distribution of dopants in three dimensions provides a deeper understanding of the characteristics of silicon sensors, such as depletion voltage, electric field distribution, and charge collection properties. A uniform distribution across a large sensor area and depth is essential for high manufacturing yield and device reliability. However, conventional measurement techniques face...
The ATLAS Inner Detector is undergoing a significant upgrade in preparation for the demands of the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) era. The expected increase in proton-proton interactions per bunch crossing from 30 to nearly 200 is demanding a replacement of the current Inner Detector (ID) with the new all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk), which features higher granularity, extended pseudo-rapidity...
In nuclear medicine, the development and validation of innovative detection systems and treatment strategies require rigorous testing under controlled conditions before clinical implementation. Traditionally, these evaluations rely on anthropomorphic phantoms, which aim to mimic the complexity of human anatomy and radiotracer distribution. However, most available phantoms are static,...
The development of advanced Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) for Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Micro-CT has emerged as a crucial driver for achieving high-precision material characterization. In particular, acquiring 2D distribution of the electrons or X-ray photons along with measuring their energy is desired for imaging the chemical elements at...
The High-Intensity Heavy-Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) is a next-generation heavy-ion accelerator currently under construction in China. A compact, large-acceptance spectrometer equipped with silicon pixel detectors will be constructed at HIAF to detect final-state particles at high event rates. The pixel-based tracking system, a key component of the spectrometer, is designed to precisely...
Gas Proportional Scintillation Counters (GPSCs) are noble gas detectors in which the primary ionization charge generated by radiation interactions is amplified via electroluminescence (EL) in the gas. Under an external electric field, the primary electrons drift into a region where the field exceeds the gas scintillation threshold—known as the scintillation region. Compared to charge...
$\hspace{2em}$The Time Projection Chamber (TPC) gas detector can measure charged particles' trajectory and energy spectrum. In the negative ion TPC, gas molecules capture ionized electrons right after their production and form negative ions. The TPC can be used in directional dark matter searches. For example, in the Drift IID and NEWAGE experiments, a low pressure 30:10 Torr CF$_4$:CS$_2$ gas...
In the rapidly evolving realm of radiation imaging, encompassing fields such as Astro-particle physics, medical imaging, and homeland security, the Compton gamma camera (CGC) emerges as a revolutionary technology. Recent strides in technological innovation and computational prowess have enabled the successful development and deployment of diverse radiation detectors. Among these, the Compton...
The Katherine readout system for Timepix3 (and to a smaller extent, Timepix2) is widely used within the scientific Medipix community. Timepix3, in particular, is a popular readout chip offering a resolution of 256×256 pixels with a 55 µm pitch, capable of measuring both energy and timestamps (with 1.56 ns time binning) simultaneously. It has already demonstrated excellent performance and...
With the increase in repetition rate of free-electron lasers, bandwidth requirements of front-end detector ASICs become of utmost importance. The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS-II) at SLAC National Laboratory will achieve an increase in pulse rate, which is expected to reach a frequency of 1 MHz. Detectors at LCLS have hitherto been operating under the full-frame readout scheme, where data...
The data rates of hybrid pixel detectors are rapidly increasing, with next-generation systems moving from 10 Gbit/s to 100 Gbit/s readout. For Matterhorn, a new single-photon counting detector under development at PSI, a 16-megapixel configuration would generate data rates of up to 3.2 Tbit/s (or 400 GB/s). These high data rates are not only a challenge for beamline operation but also make...
Diffraction experiments using coherent X-ray radiation from light sources, such as X-ray free- electron lasers (XFELs), are essential for investigating the structural and functional properties of materials at the nanoscale. These sources deliver highly coherent, high-brilliance, pulsed X-ray beams that enable the detailed study of physical, chemical and iological systems. A key requirement...
Low Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGADs) constitute the state-of-the-art in Minimum Ionizing Particles (MIP) timing measurements in High Energy Physics (HEP), providing a time resolution of about 30 ps. These detectors feature an active area of about a few mm$^2$ on a 50~$\mu$m thick silicon and are capable of withstanding fluence up to a few 10$^{15}$ n$_{eq}$/cm$^2$. Due to their exceptional timing...
The Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector has emerged as a valuable tool in radiation imaging technologies due to its high particle detection efficiency, good timing, and spatial resolutions. Its capacity to enable the manufacturing of large size detectors makes it ideal for applications such as cargo scanning, soil imaging like geophysical studies, particularly for the detection and analysis...
During the Long Shutdown 3 (LS3, scheduled 2026-2030), the innermost 3 layers (Inner Barrel, or IB) of the present ALICE ITS2 will be replaced with 6 large-area, flexible, stitched CMOS 65 nm sensors, in the framework of the ITS3 upgrade project. For the first time in a High Energy Physics experiment, such large-scale sensors will be bent into a truly half-cylindrical shape, requiring little...
Low-energy X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping at synchrotron radiation facilities [1, 2] is often limited by acquisition time and dose constraints [3], especially for sensitive samples such as biological specimens or cultural heritage objects. Compressive sensing strategies [3] offer a way to mitigate these limitations by enabling spatial undersampling or by triggering dynamical decisional...
In the past decade, Electron Cryo-Microscopy (cryoEM) has developed into a popular technique for biological molecular structure determination, driven largely by the rapid development of increasingly capable direct electron detectors. Traditionally, cryoEM has been performed on 300 keV transmission electron microscopes, which are costly to acquire and operate, and consequently out of reach for...
Carbon-ion radiotherapy provides superior precision in targeting tumors, while significantly reducing the exposure of surrounding healthy tissue to radiation dose as compared to conventional X-ray radiotherapy. However, the same underlying principle increases the sensitivity of the dose distribution to variations of patient positioning and anatomical changes such as nasal cavity filling or...
Introduction
Carbon-ion radiotherapy (CIRT) enables highly precise dose delivery through its highly localized dose deposition and enhanced biological effectiveness. However, current treatment guidelines generally do not include daily control imaging throughout the course of a multi-day therapy. As a result, anatomical changes that may occur between fractions cannot be considered due to the...
The first electrons have circled the newly upgraded Swiss Light Source (SLS) 2.0, a fourth generation synchrotron. Photons with energies > 20 keV will be available at an increased flux compared to the third-generation synchrotron which has been replaced. Specifically, the brilliance will increase by two orders of magnitude. In these energy ranges, Silicon is no longer efficient as a detection...
The advent of fourth-generation synchrotron light sources carries both novel and compelling scientific opportunities, as well as new requirements for the instrumentation employed in detectors within such a framework. To address this challenge, a collaboration between Argonne National Laboratory, University of Pavia, and University of Bergamo devised a prototype readout to be utilised in x-ray...
The ATLAS Inner Detector will be entirely replaced with a state-of-the-art all-silicon tracking detector (ITk) during the 2026–2028 upgrade, designed to withstand the demanding conditions of the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). The pixel detector, positioned at the core of ITk, will feature 3D sensor technology in the innermost layer (L0), where the expected particle fluence reaches up to 2 ×...
Radiation source localization is a critical technology in fields such as emergency response and nuclear decommissioning, where identifying the position of radioactive materials is essential for safety and operational efficiency. In such scenarios, compact and deployable systems are particularly important to enable rapid and flexible detection in constrained or hazardous environments. While...
Introduction
Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistor (TFT) flat panel detectors (FPDs) have the potential to overcome limitation of a-Si:H TFT detectors by avoiding the cost increase of CMOS technology [1-3]. Main advantages of IGZO-TFT FPDs when compared to a-Si:H TFT FPDs reside in the higher electrons (≥ 10cm2∕Vs vs. ≤ 1cm2∕Vs) and holes (~0.1 cm2∕Vs vs. ~0.0005 cm2∕Vs)...
Gas Proportional Scintillation Counters (GPSCs) are gas-filled detectors in which the charge signal generated by radiation interactions is amplified through secondary scintillation - electroluminescence (EL) - induced by electron impact. In these detectors, primary electrons are drifted into a scintillation region where the electric field is strong enough to produce EL without initiating...
In this contribution we present the first measurements of the characterization of the ColorPix-2 ASIC communicating with the UniCorn readout interface. ColorPix-2 is the ASIC consisting of 32x32 pixel matrix with the pixel pitch of 70 um. It is designed for high-resolution, position and color sensitive X-ray imaging. A 2 mm-thick CZT layer is bump-bonded and used as the sensing material,...
JUNGFRAU is a state-of-the-art charge integrating hybrid pixel detector developed for photon science applications at X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) and synchrotrons. JUNGFRAU features three automatically switching gains per pixel, which allows both detection of individual 2 keV photons and a high dynamic range up to 104 12.4 keV photons at a frame rate up to 2.2 kHz. A JUNGFRAU...
The IDEA (Innovative Detector for an Electron-positron Accelerator) experiment features a cutting-edge drift chamber designed for high-precision tracking and particle identification in future e⁺e⁻ collisions. In this talk we will examine the design choices made for the chamber’s gas mixture, wire materials, and soldering techniques that ensure high performance and low material budget. One of...
The ColorPix3 ASIC represents an advanced hybrid pixel detector design tailored explicitly for high-resolution, color-sensitive X-ray imaging. Developed using a 65-nm CMOS process, this ASIC integrates a pixel matrix comprising of 32×32 pixels, each sized at 70×70 µm², covering a sensitive area of 0.05 cm². In this technology demonstrator, the digital part of the readout system is being...
This study presents a novel gamma-ray detector module based on a 16-element MPPC-13360-3050 matrix (Hamamatsu) coupled with YSO, GaGG, and BGO scintillators, evaluating its performance across a 60 keV – 2500 keV energy range. Each 3×3 mm² SiPM element features a 1440 pixels/mm² density, 40% photon detection efficiency (at 470 nm), and operates at 55.5 V. The detector was characterized using...
The Extreme Energy Events (EEE) Collaboration has built and operated so far a large set of cosmic ray telescopes, based on Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers, which are installed in high school buildings over the Italian territory for scientific and educational activities. To extend the potential of the EEE Project, a number of additional, scintillator-based, cosmic ray telescopes, were built...
The Australian National University (ANU) has been conducting studies in directional detector technology, with the aim of building a large detector called CYGNUS. Eventually, such a detector is likely to be located in Australia's new underground physics laboratory at Stawell in regional Victoria.
The ANU group leads the experimental efforts of the Australian CYGNUS-Oz consortium through the...
Balloon-borne Instrument for Spectral Scanning of high-altitude Environments (BISSE) is a lightweight gamma-ray measurement setup that can be placed in standard weather balloons and can be retrieved after the flight [1]. The design allows multiple flights with a relatively small cost. The BISSE setup records automatically spectral information of radiation at different altitudes throughout its...
The X-ray Imaging Telescope (XIT) is one of the scientific payloads of the Solar Polar Observatory (SPO). It is primarily responsible for solar X-ray observations, enabling the monitoring of full-disk eruptive events and the acquisition of X-ray spectra for small-scale activities. The X-ray Imaging Telescope (XIT) plans to employ CdZnTe (CZT) detectors as the sensitive elements due to the...
Introduction
Accurate identification of radioactive isotopes is a critical task in nuclear security, environmental monitoring, and emergency response. Traditional gamma spectroscopy analysis relies on peak fitting, template matching, or expert-driven methods, which can struggle in low-resolution, low-statistics, and high-background environments. These challenges are particularly...
In high-count-rate environments, such as those present in nuclear facilities or radiological emergency scenarios, radiation events often arrive in rapid succession, resulting in pile-up pulses that distort the original pulse height information. This distortion significantly reduces the accuracy of reconstructed gamma spectra, making isotope identification and quantification more difficult....
In the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), understanding the distribution of radiation sources and identifying radioactive hotspots—areas with localized high concentrations of radiation sources—is crucial for developing a detailed decontamination plan and minimizing worker exposure. To address this, we are developing a system and method for remotely locating...
To support the development and testing of detectors for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) and neutron imaging, we have constructed a compact neutron irradiation beamline at the Helsinki Accelerator Laboratory. The beamline includes a movable moderator/reflector assembly made of Teflon, aluminium and lead, which allows shaping the neutron spectrum to enhance specific energy ranges, such as...
Fast neutron imaging has emerged as a powerful tool for non-destructive testing, particularly in environments where traditional X-ray and thermal neutron imaging methods are limited. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of fast neutron imaging using a compact D-D neutron generator and the KSTAR tokamak as neutron sources. Various scintillators for fast neutrons were employed to...
The CMS experiment at CERN is foreseen to receive a substantial upgrade during Long Shutdown-3 (LS3) to handle the large number of pileup events in the High-Luminosity LHC. The objective is to increase the integrated luminosity by a factor of 10 beyond the LHC design value (~10^34 cm⁻² s⁻¹). The CMS just commissioned the Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector, namely GE1/1, at the endcap...
A novel dose calibrator based on CZT detector has been designed to accurately measure low-level activities that conventional dose calibrators cannot reliably measure. In order to ensure that the dose delivered to the patient is what is intended in radiopharmaceutical therapies, dose calibrator is a priory. Errors in exact activity measurement would otherwise result in overdose or underdose...
The High Energy Cosmic Radiation Detection (HERD) facility is one of several planned space astronomy payloads to be deployed onboard the upcoming China Space Station (CSS). HERD is expected to begin operation around 2027 and continue for approximately ten years. Among its key subsystems, the Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) is designed to calibrate the TeV energy spectrum of the Calorimeter...
Projectile nuclear fragmentation is a primary technique for producing radioactive nuclear beams, enabling the exploration of unstable nuclide regions in nuclear physics. In the study of heavy nuclei, alpha decay measurement is essential for nuclide identification due to the minimal differences in mass-to-charge ratios between adjacent isotopes and the presence of multiple charge states....
In the context of the so-called PRIN 2022, funded by the Italian Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca, the project Front-end channels in a 28 nm CMOS process for Pixel detectors in future High Energy physics colliders and advanced X-ray imaging instrumentation (PiHEX) has, as one of its objectives, the development of ASIC prototypes for modern photon science applications, which require...
Carbon-ion radiotherapy (CIRT) is capable of delivering a precise dose distribution using the Bragg peak. However, the generation of secondary neutrons and the uncertainty of the beam range can potentially affect the efficacy of the treatment and could also result in damage to surrounding organs at risk (OAR). In order to ensure patient safety, it is essential to accurately characterize...
Novel applications of fundamental particle detectors often require that the final device has a compact and lightweight design that offers more than one sensing mechanism covering a wide energy range. Radiation emitted from different radioactive sources often consists of various types of radiation (alpha, beta, gamma).
This article describes the design of an amplification and biasing...
Hybrid pixel semiconductor detectors of the Timepix family have foundpractical applications in basic and applied research such as nuclear and high-energy physics, biomedical imaging, material analysis and space weather monitoring. The detectors are fabricated with several types of semiconductor sensors according to varying requirements. Usually, Si is used for detector fabrication, followed by...
High dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT) is a treatment technique in which a radioisotope (RI) is directly inserted into the human body. This allows for minimizing the dose to surrounding critical organs while concentrating the radiation dose on the tumor tissue, resulting in high therapeutic efficacy. Treatment planning for HDR-BT is performed based on anatomical images including the clinical...
This study addresses the clinical demand for real-time localization of Bragg peaks in heavy-ion radiotherapy, overcoming the technical limitations of conventional readout electronics such as dead time and slow response. A multi-channel electronic readout system based on application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) was developed. By integrating the high-precision digitalization chip...
ABSTRACT
At the Wolsong CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) nuclear power plant in the Republic of Korea, 37-element CANDU fuel assemblies using natural uranium are employed. Due to the short burnup cycle of natural uranium, a relatively large amount of spent nuclear fuel is produced, necessitating safe management and timely verification of spent fuel inventories. To address this need, the...
This project presents a specialized gamma radiation detector electronics system optimized for aerial mapping, surveillance, and radiation safety applications. The drone-mounted design effectively addresses radiation safety requirements across challenging terrains and sensitive locations. We discuss the main features of the detector electronics, starting from powering the detector up to data...
The LHCb Upgrade II, proposed for implementation during Long Shutdown 4 (LS4) of the LHC, aims to operate the detector at a maximum luminosity of 1.5 × 10³⁴ cm⁻²s⁻¹. This necessitates the Upstream Pixel tracker (UP) to achieve a detection efficiency exceeding 99% under extreme hit densities of up to 100 MHz, provide nanosecond-level timing resolution to precisely tag collisions occurring at 25...
Radiotherapy (RT) using X-rays is the main treatment strategy employed to treat human tumors with ~50% of all cancer patients receiving RT. The major drawback of RT treatment is that in order to deliver a lethal dose to cancerous cells, short- and long-term adverse side-effects are evident due to the irradiation of the surrounding normal healthy tissues that can severely impact the health and...
Scintillator-based radiation detectors are widely used to detect alpha, beta, gamma, X-rays, and neutrons for high-energy physics, non-destructive inspection, homeland security, resource exploration, and medical imaging applications. X-ray imaging, in particular, has been utilized in product inspection and developing battery materials, aircraft parts, and more. This has driven a strong demand...
Radiation detection is nowadays a complex and very important field with applications across areas such as medicine, homeland security, environmental monitoring, nuclear reactor control, well logging, high energy physics and large area detectors in neutron research facilities, among others. The development of alternative systems for radiation detection that present versatility of applications,...
Hybrid pixel detectors are segmented devices used for X-ray detection that consist of a sensor attached to the readout electronics. Detectors working in single-photon counting mode process each incoming photon individually, have essentially infinite dynamic range and by applying energy discrimination they provide noiseless imaging [1].
To improve the resolution of the detector and allow...
Chest radiography is a widely used imaging modality for diagnosing and monitoring thoracic diseases due to its accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and relatively low radiation dose. However, conventional chest radiographs often struggle to differentiate overlapping anatomical structures, such as bones and soft tissues, which can obscure important pathological findings. To address these...
The He-40%CF₄ gas mixture has been proposed for directional dark matter searches. A collision between Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and gas atoms induces a nuclear recoil, producing an ionization trail in the gas. From this trail, the 3D topological signature - including direction, dE/dx, and total energy - can be reconstructed. The Earth's motion relative to the expected WIMP...
Nuclear power plant generates electricity by nuclear fission reactions, from which Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) and radioactive waste are inevitably generated. Since SNF includes 235U, 239Pu, and fission products, the effective management and supervision techniques are necessary for non-proliferation of nuclear materials. The IAEA has conducted Safeguards activities using varying non-destructive...
The Optical Fiber Radiation Probe System (OFPS), which utilizes an optical fiber-based scintillation detector, has been employed by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and South Korea to verify spent fuel bundles from CANDU-type heavy water reactors. To address challenges identified in previous studies, the OFPS is currently undergoing enhancements to improve its...
Micropattern gas detectors (MPGDs) have been extensively applied in high-energy Physics experiments. Other specific applications include Homeland security, medical imaging and cultural heritage. The primary ionization electrons produced by the radiation in the sensitive volume drift towards a cascade of micropatterned elements, being amplified through electron charge avalanches occurring in...
X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a powerful technique for probing the local atomic structure of specific elements, providing crucial insights into oxidation states and atomic coordination environments [1]. Typically performed at a synchrotron light source, XAS involves scanning the incident X-ray energy across an element’s absorption edge while recording the transmitted intensity,...
This work presents the results of performance studies conducted on 1.5 mm thick cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector structures with differing electrode configurations. The aim was to gain a better understanding of the correlation between the physical processes and the electrical and spectroscopic properties of the studied devices. We performed current-voltage (IV) and capacitance-voltage...
The Customs Service performs X-ray security screening to prevent illicit articles from entering the country. The primary contraband products that are illegally distributed include unspecified forms of narcotics, explosives, and seeds. The challenge in detecting these contraband items using a conventional transmission X-ray inspection system alone stems from their tendency to be concealed as...
Observation of the dynamics for cell and its inside is required to reveal the mechanism of life activities; For example, how virus invade host cell, how liquid–liquid phase separation in the cell became to disorder. To observe such dynamics, high spatial-resolution of less than 50 nm is required, and X-ray is available for the in vivo imaging or Non-destructive Testing. To realize such high...
Background:
Photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) is a rapidly emerging imaging modality that offers significant advantages over conventional energy-integrating detectors (EIDs)-based CTs, such as improved image quality, spectral imaging, and dose and noise reduction. Developing a new photon-counting detector with four-side buttable technology and six energy bins enables CT systems that...
We demonstrate the application of the Three-Photon Absorption Transient Current Technique (3PA-TCT) for the characterization of 3D silicon column device, with an active thickness of 285 µm and pitch of 55 um, manufactured at IMB-CNM through the RD50 Common Project. The work presented in this contribution is done within the framework of the CERN DRD3 and CERN Rd50 Collaborations. To our best...
Purpose
To fully utilize the capabilities of proton therapy, it is crucial to conduct effective quality assurance procedures [1], which employ radiation-hard, dosimetry devices with good spatial resolution. The MATRIX project is dedicated to developing a novel diode array that will facilitate proton imaging and beam monitoring [2]. The current study focused on understanding the response...
The emergence of fully electric vehicles and autonomous systems (e.g., cars,
drones), combined with advancements in long-distance power transmission (e.g.,
satellites), has accelerated the development of wireless power transmission tech-
nologies. These technologies aim to address critical challenges such as reducing
the reliance on extensive cabling and minimizing noise interference,...
This study investigates the imaging performance of the TimePix3 chip for high-speed X-ray imaging, with a focus on its potential application in impact dynamics, specifically in gas-gun experiments combined with a flash X-ray system. The flash X-ray system used is the MAT 300-4C (Scandiflash, Sweden), which generates four discrete X-ray bursts with an exposure time of 20 ns, within a voltage...
Gamma-ray imaging based on Compton scattering typically requires a two-component system, consisting of a scatterer and an absorber. The present work explores an alternative approach using a single, segmented high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector from the Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) [1] collaboration for reconstructing the position of a radioactive source. A key advantage of using a...
We present advancements in image sensor technology combining Skipper Charge Coupled Devices (Skipper-CCDs) with CMOS imaging techniques to achieve exceptional low-noise and high-speed readout capabilities. The Skipper-in-CMOS image sensor merges the non-destructive readout advantage of Skipper-CCDs with the high conversion gain of a pinned photodiode and integrated in-pixel signal processing...
Our objective is to demonstrate the coincidence between two sides in a multiplexing PCB design. Following the validation of this coincidence, we aim to achieve high spatial resolution using a double-sided readout system. First we performed a coincidence experiment among neighboring pixels of MPPC array to check the function of partial pixel use for the phase shift coincidence. Then we carry...
Jaewon Son1, Chanyeol Lee1, Yeongbin Song1, Junmo Yang1, Jungwon Kang1, 2, *
1. Department of Foundry Engineering, Dankook University, Yongin-Si, 16890, Gyeonggi-Do, Republic of Korea
2. Department of Convergence Semiconductor Engineering, Dankook University, Yongin-Si, 16890, Gyeonggi-Do, Republic of Korea
* Corresponding author: jkang@dankook.ac.kr
In recent semiconductor scaling,...
ABSTRACT
I present a novel approach for radiation detection utilizing neural networks implemented on-chip in a pixelated readout hybrid X-ray detector (HPAD). In HPADs, when a photon hits a detector, a cloud of charge is generated in a sensor material and attracted to the electrode located at the input of the pixel. One of the problems that occurs in this type of detector is the...
4H-silicon carbide (4H-SiC) is an emerging wide bandgap detector material in high-energy physics due to its superior temperature stability and low dark current compared to silicon detectors. The wide bandgap of 4H-SiC makes it suitable for high-temperature applications and allows operation at room temperature even after irradiation.
These features, combined with SiC being insensitive to...
We report a proof-of-concept study applying double-photon emission coincidence imaging (DPECI) to visualize polymeric micelle-based nanocarriers in a tumor-bearing mouse model. The micelles, formed via self-assembly of block copolymers, had an average diameter of approximately 30 nm. They were radiolabeled with DOTA-conjugated ¹¹¹In and administered intravenously, enabling passive tumor...
Innovative Light Detection System for Rapid 3D Radiation Dose Monitoring
B. Mindur on behalf of Dose3D Future, AGH University of Krakow, Poland
Introduction
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Radiotherapy is often the primary or sole therapeutic approach used in treatment. Ensuring that each patient...
Due to their ability to track single particles and measure energy deposition,Timepix detectors are successfully used for various research projects in particle therapy. Examples include the helium-beam radiography project or the estimation of LET spectra for ion radiation fields at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Center (HIT) in Heidelberg, Germany....
ITS3 - A truly cylindrical tracker for ALICE
Anna Villani on behalf of the ALICE Collaboration
The ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is optimized for the study of the strongly interacting state of matter arising in high-energy heavy-ion collisions through the tracking of particles at high multiplicities resulting from the collisions. The ALICE Inner Tracking...
The recent development of inverse Low Gain Avalanche Diode (iLGAD) sensors with optimized thin entrance windows has made hybrid pixel detectors available for applications with soft X-rays. One promising use case is Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS), which requires high statistics and multidimensional scans while being inherently photon-starved. The multi-kHz image rates and large area...
The Timepix4 [1] readout chip introduces significant improvements over its predecessor, Timepix3 [2], in multiple aspects. One of the key advantages is the 3.5× larger active area, which allows for the coverage of a wider surface. Another major improvement is support for Through-Silicon Vias (TSV) technology. This feature enables the construction of large-area detectors with minimal dead zones...
Hybrid semiconductor detectors with CdTe sensor chips find wide applications in medical and industrial X-ray radiography. These detectors enable direct radiation detection through their ability to effectively convert ionizing radiation into electrical signals. The design provides excellent detection sensitivity and eliminates analog noise. However, CdTe sensor chips are known to have crystal...
Accurate modeling of alpha particle interactions in hybrid semiconductor detectors remains challenging, as standard simulation tools like Geant4 and Allpix Squared (CERN) often fail to simulate specific sensor and detector electronics responses. This results in discrepancies between simulated and experimental data, particularly in reproducing key features such as the "halo" effect surrounding...
Wavelength Shifting (WLS) fibres shift UV/blue light to green, granting efficient scintillation conversion in the process. These fibres enhance detection accuracy in particle physics experiments due to reduced interference susceptibility, improving overall signal quality.
The attenuation length of WLS fibres, defined as the distance over which the signal is reduced by a factor of 1/e, is a...
Metal artifacts—arising from the interaction between the high-density metals and the X-ray beams— pose a significant challenge to computed tomography (CT) by degrading image quality and hindering accurate diagnosis and treatment planning. Although numerous metal artifact reduction (MAR) techniques have been proposed, none have achieved universal adoption due to their varying effectiveness,...
Silicon carbide belongs to the wide band gap semiconductor materials, and it is very perspective in the detection of various types of radiation. Another advantage is the commercial availability of high-quality crystalline material required for the preparation of radiation detectors. The 4H-SiC has the band gap energy of 3.23 eV at room temperature, breakdown voltage about 2×10$^6$...
Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) is a well-established chemical element analysis method with applications in material characterization, device testing, biosciences, forensics, food science and many more. In EDS, characteristic X-rays are generated by hitting a sample with an electron beam. These X-rays are then captured by a Silicon Drift Detector (SDD), where the photon energy is...
To meet the stringent demands of signal digitization in high-energy physics experiments, a universal high-speed digitizer module has been developed for precise acquisition of fast analog signals from various detector technologies. The system supports sampling rates of up to 20 GS/s in single-channel mode and 10 GS/s in dual-channel mode, offering 9 GHz analog bandwidth and 12-bit vertical...
The experimental results at CERN's LHC confirmed the Standard Model with high precision. However, several questions are still open, and successors for the High-Luminosity LHCs are proposed to explore the Standard Model with unprecedented precision. Future colliders, like the FCC-ee and Muon Collider, aim to measure Higgs Yukawa couplings and self-interactions with unprecedented accuracy,...
For the HL-LHC era, the Phase-2 CMS upgrade will involve a complete replacement of the trigger and data acquisition system. The readout electronics will be enhanced to support a maximum Level-1 (L1) accept rate of 750 kHz with a latency of 12.5 µs. The muon trigger operates as a multi-layer system, designed to reconstruct and measure muon momenta by correlating data from muon chambers within...
Visualizing nanostructures within macroscopic materials is fundamental to understanding their physical and chemical properties. Over the past decades, super-resolution techniques have revolutionized visible-light microscopy [1-3]. Among these, structured illumination microscopy (SIM) [4-6] provides a straightforward implementation to access a full range of spatial information limited by the...
With the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) the number of events per bunch crossing increases. To cope with these high rates in the pixel trackers, per-pixel time measurements are required, which implies the need for fast sensors. The Inverted Low-Gain Avalanche Detector (iLGAD) is one of the options that is being investigated. This presentation will show the results of an inverse...
Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) are silicon detectors produced in a specialized way, such that they possess an internal charge multiplication effect (gain) that amplifies the output signal and allows for a good signal-to-noise ratio. Their stable and controlled moderate gain of up to 50, along with exceptional timing resolution, justifies their role as a baseline for HEP experiments. This...
Signal, noise, and their correlations– in space are fundamental for determining image quality. These can be characterized by modulation-transfer function (MTF) and noise-power spectrum (NPS), which are both Fourier metrics. The ratio of the squared MTF and the NPS is termed noise-equivalent quanta (NEQ) or detective quantum efficiency (DQE), commonly used to describe the performance of an...
Accumulation of space-charge in gaseous ionization detectors is a well-known phenomenon. Various signatures of its effects are observed experimentally in all sorts of gaseous detectors, starting from wire chambers, RPCs to MPGDs [1,2,3,4,5]. It is also known to have important consequences influencing avalanche to streamer transition [6], loss of efficiency and response uniformity [7] in many...
Neutron imaging offers additional information compared to X-ray imaging because of the different types of interaction of the two different types of radiation. This technique is particularly valuable in fields such as nuclear engineering and non-destructive industrial diagnostics.
Based on 3D sensor technology, an innovative thermal neutron detection and imaging device has been developed...
LaBr3:Ce3+ scintillation crystal demonstrates superior performance for radiation detection. However, its application in extreme environments such as oil logging (high temperature, low count rate), astronomical exploration (extreme temperature, high precision), etc., is still limited. The main reason is that intrinsic background signals generated from radioactive isotopes 138La and 227Ac in raw...
Low-mass, low-power radiation detectors are needed to monitor and predict space weather conditions for future crewed and autonomous space missions. The Compact Electron Proton Spectrometer (CEPS) combines Timepix2 ASIC technology with CdTe chips to form a small, portable, hybrid-pixel detector package capable of differentiating particle types and energies over a wide dynamic range in a...
Computed tomography (CT) generates 3D volumetric images by numerically processing projection views obtained from various angles, and is widely used both in medical and industrial fields. However, industrial CT faces challenges, such as limited field of view for large objects and severe photon starvation or metal artifacts. These artifacts can be reduced or eliminated by avoiding highly...
The increase of the particle flux (pile-up) at the HL-LHC with instantaneous luminosities up to L ≃ 7.5 × 1034 cm−2s−1 will have a severe impact on the ATLAS detector reconstruction and trigger performance. The end-cap and forward region where the liquid Argon calorimeter has coarser granularity and the inner tracker has poorer momentum resolution will be particularly affected. A High...
High-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy using Iridium-192 (Ir-192) sources is widely adopted in the treatment of various cancers due to its ability to deliver concentrated radiation doses with high spatial precision. Accurate dose verification is essential in this modality to ensure both treatment efficacy and patient safety. In this study, we investigate the feasibility and performance of...
X-ray security screening is essential in high-security facilities such as airports and harbors. It can detect prohibited items and hazardous materials concealed in baggage. This screening process is critical to ensuring public safety. It enables the early detection and interception of dangerous items. Screening images taken with standardized test kits are commonly used to evaluate the...
Low-Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGADs) are advanced silicon sensors developed for the fast and precise detection of minimum ionizing particles (MIPs), offering promising performance for certain applications in high-energy physics experiments. Fabricated on thin silicon wafers—typically ranging from 20 to 50 microns in thickness—with internal gain that results in a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),...
In recent years, the innovative concept of low internal gain avalanche detector (LGAD) coupled with the resistive read-out (RSD) has significantly changed the performance of silicon detectors. By increasing the ratio signal-to-noise by a factor of around 20, the LGAD mechanism led to unprecedented time resolution, on the order of 30 ps for a 50 um active sensor thickness. The resistive...
The Timepix detector network inside the ATLAS cavern has proven to be effective in measuring luminosity and the radiation field composition during LHC Run-2 operation [1]. First tests of Timepix3 in this radiation environment provided promising results so that for Run-3, the network has been upgraded to a two-layer detector stack relying fully on the Timepix3 technology. Each two-layer...
Tracking imaging systems have evolved from manual analysis to advanced photodetectors, such as SiPM arrays and CMOS cameras, enabling the conversion of scintillation light into digital data for precise physical measurements. This study presents RIPTIDE, a recoil-proton track imaging system for fast neutron detection. The system employs a plastic scintillator where fast neutrons scatter...
Low-Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs) based on 4H-SiC are emerging as a promising technology for high-radiation environments due to their intrinsic radiation hardness, wide bandgap, and high breakdown field. In this work, we present results from a systematic study of radiation-induced degradation in 4H-SiC LGADs subjected to 24 GeV/c proton irradiation at the CERN IRRAD facility, with fluences...
Diamond is a highly attractive material due to its excellent chemical and physical properties, making it suitable for various applications, including heavy particle detection, neutron detection, and radiotherapy dosimeters. Atomic and mass numbers 6 and 12 are considered to be almost tissue-equivalent, providing an important advantage over alternative materials such as silicon. Although...
The Moon experiences a day-night cycle lasting approximately 27.3 days. Near the Moon's equator, daytime temperatures reach about 120°C, while nighttime temperatures drop to -130°C. During the night, lunar exploration equipment is exposed to extreme temperatures, causing it to discharge and cease functioning. A method to prevent this is by incorporating a heat source, such as a Radioisotope...
Ion-beam therapy can offer advantages over the standard radiotherapy with photons, especially for cancer treatments where organs at risk are in close proximity to the tumor to be treated. These advantages mainly result from the characteristic of delivering highly focused doses to the tumor. However, this potential can sometimes not be fully used in clinics, since the focused dose distribution...
Removing constraints of 4D STEM with a framework for event-driven acquisition and processing
Arno Annys1,2*, Hoelen L. Lalandec Robert1,2, Saleh Gholam1,2, Joke Hadermann1,2 and Jo Verbeeck1,2
1Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
2NANOlight Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan...
Phosphor-coupled or indirect-conversion X ray detectors are widely used in both industrial non destructive testing (NDT) and medical imaging. However, there is an inherent tradeoff between spatial resolution and conversion efficiency: detectors with a thin phosphor offer higher spatial resolution but suffer from lower X ray conversion efficiency, leading to higher quantum noise, whereas those...
Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) detectors used in CERN’s LHC experiments traditionally operate with a gas mixture containing C2H2F4 (R134a) and SF6, both of which are greenhouse gases with high Global Warming Potential (GWP). In Europe, the production of these fluorinated gases is being phased out, making the identification of environmentally friendly alternatives increasingly urgent.
This...
This paper presents the tests of the charge-sharing compensation algorithm implemented in the single photon counting readout integrated circuit for Si and CdTe pixel detectors. The multi-threshold pattern recognition algorithm with four energy thresholds was tested in 96 × 192 pixel matrix with 100 µm pixel pitch. With the readout pixel noise of only 124 el. rms and the threshold spread below...
This contribution presents a detailed GEANT4 based simulation study of the
MPGD-HCAL prototype. The simulation implements the geometry of the prototype that
is going to be tested under pions beam in November 2025 at PS facility at CERN. The
prototype consists of 12 layers of alternating stainless steel absorber and the MPGD.
The first 8 layers...
We report on the evolution of the SpacePix chip series designed for compact, high-resolution space radiation detection. The SpacePix2-based system was deployed onboard the VZLUSAT-2 nanosatellite and successfully operated in low Earth orbit, collecting in-situ data on the radiation environment over several months. The detector demonstrated stable operation, directional sensitivity, and the...
Introduction
Computed Tomography (CT) is an integral part of contemporary medicine. Conventional CT scanners are equipped with Energy Integrating Detectors (EID), which are based on indirect conversion of the incoming photons into electric signal for the image generation. EID-based CT shows limitations regarding tissue contrast and spatial resolution. A turning point of the actual CT...
Spectral imaging in industrial CT offers significant benefits for materials analysis and artifact reduction. In this study, we demonstrate that dual-layer energy-integrating detectors (DL EIDs) provide substantial improvements over conventional flat panel detectors (FPDs) in the spectral imaging of a commercial 18650 lithium-ion battery. Using a prototype dual-layer detector (XRD4343RF-DL,...
X-ray imaging systems designed for X-ray spectroscopy, based on semiconductor strip sensors, have recently been a key research area. A major objective is to enhance spectroscopic and spatial resolution [1–3]. In spectroscopic applications, short-strip silicon detectors are widely employed due to their low capacitance and leakage current. Using a strip pitch below 100 μm enables high spatial...
An optical Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) using a He-40%CF4 gas mixture has been proposed for directional Dark Matter (DM) searches. The motion of the Earth around the Sun results in an anisotropic angular distribution of the WIMP relative to the gas target and, thus, relative to the nuclear recoils induced by WIMP collisions with nuclei which, together with the Earth rotation, enables an...
Timepix2 [1] is a hybrid pixel detector developed by the Medipix2 collaboration as the successor to Timepix [2]. Its introduction brought significant advancements, including the simultaneous measurement of Time-over-Threshold (ToT) and Time-of-Arrival (ToA), as well as new capabilities such as adaptive gain mode and pixel disabling to reduce power consumption. These features, combined with the...
Recent advantages in the detector production have facilitated the manufacture of pixelated 4H-SiC detectors, which can be an alternative to silicon ones especially in the harsh radiation environment, or in the environment with high temperatures, where such sensors profit from their higher band gap. Moreover, thanks to an elastic scattering cross-section of carbon for fast neutrons the SiC...
To meet the increasingly demanding requirements of future tracking detectors for the LHCb Upgrade II and the future Circular Electron-Positron collider, advanced detector technologies with enhanced hit density processing capabilities and superior radiation tolerance are essential. To study the sensor performance and electronic response in the next generation process of HV-CMOS, a sensor chip,...
This work describes the design and the testing of a charge-sensitive amplifier (CSA) mainly conceived for the readout of hybrid pixel detectors in extreme radiation environments, as in the high-luminosity upgrades of the LHC or in future experiments at the FCC. Developed in a 28 nm CMOS process, the CSA features a feedback network to compensate for detector leakage current and operates at a...
Space weather poses significant hazards for space travelers beyond low Earth orbit, particularly during large solar energetic particle events (SEPs), which can result in acute radiation exposures, especially during lightly shielded activities such as extravehicular activities (EVAs).
There has been great progress in recent years in the development of ‘nowcasting’ models that provide early...
Timepix3 is an advanced hybrid pixel detector designed for precise particle tracking and energy measurement over a wide range of ionizing radiation [1]. Currently, Timepix3 detectors are equipped with a variety of semiconductor sensors, including silicon (Si), silicon carbide (4H-SiC), gallium arsenide (GaAs), and cadmium telluride (CdTe), each offering specific advantages depending on...
The advent of fourth-generation synchrotrons, such as the Diamond II upgrade, offers unprecedented flux increases of 10–100×, reaching up to $10^{12}$ photons/s/mm² over a wide energy range (20–100 keV). Fully leveraging these photon fluxes and high X-ray energies necessitates readout chips with exceptional frame rates and dynamic ranges, alongside the use of high-Z sensor materials. To...
SABRE is an international collaboration that will operate similar particle de-
tectors in the Northern (SABRE North) and Southern Hemispheres (SABRE
South). This innovative approach distinguishes possible dark matter signals
from seasonal backgrounds, a pioneering strategy only possible with a southern
hemisphere experiment. SABRE South is located at the Stawell Underground
Physics...
The quest for optimal time resolution remains one of the most intense areas of current research on Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs). Achieving superior time resolution is crucial for a wide range of applications, from high-energy physics experiments to medical imaging technologies. Various technological solutions are proposed, each aiming to enhance the performance of RPCs, whose actual...
Abstract:
AMS-02 is a multipurpose particle physics detector installed on the International Space Station. The objective includes search of dark matter, the primordial anti-matter, and the origin and propagation of cosmic rays. L0 (Layer 0) is a double-layer plane of silicon strip detector to be installed on AMS-02, which increases the acceptance of cosmic rays by 300% and significantly...
Three-dimensional biomedical imaging techniques, such as X-ray computed tomography (CT), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET), acquire one- or two-dimensional projections of the object of interest. These projections are subsequently reconstructed into cross-sectional or volumetric images using analytic computed tomography algorithms. In all...
Timepix4 [1] is the latest readout chip in the Timepix family of detectors, developed at CERN within the Medipix collaboration. Compared to its predecessor, it offers higher resolution (512 × 448 pixels with a 55 µm pitch) and significantly improved Time-of-Arrival (ToA) performance, with time binning down to 195 ps. Timepix4 is also capable of handling extremely high hit rates — up to 2.5...
The ATLAS Inner Detector will be entirely replaced with a new all-silicon tracking detector (ITk) in 2026–2028 to meet the demands of the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). The innermost region of ITk will be instrumented with 3D sensor technology at Layer 0 (L0), where the expected fluence reaches up to 2×1016 neq/cm², while the outer layers (L1–L4) will feature n-in-p planar hybrid modules with...
The modulation transfer function (MTF) is a critical metric for quantitatively assessing the contrast-transfer capability of X-ray imaging devices, particularly in terms of their ability to resolve fine details. Photon-counting detectors (PCDs), which use semiconductor sensor materials, typically exhibit superior MTF performance compared to scintillator-coupled detectors [1]. This is primarily...
Photon-counting spectral detectors (PCD) have significantly advanced CT imaging by reducing image noise, enhancing contrast and spatial resolution, and enabling spectral imaging [1]. These benefits have extended to µCT imaging, where small-pixel (<100 µm) PCDs have allowed material-specific quantitative imaging at high spatial resolution [2]. Similarly, phase-contrast x-ray imaging (XPCI) has...
X-ray spectrum estimation is essential for dose calculation, image quality optimization, and material decomposition in diagnostic radiology. This study implements and evaluates an X-ray spectrum estimation method based on the Birch-Marshall model with three advanced scatter correction techniques. Using a dual-material step wedge phantom composed of acrylic (0-60 mm) and aluminum (0-6 mm), we...
