LET Estimation of Heavy Ion Particles based on a Timepix-Based Si Detector

Abstract

Linear Energy Transfer (LET) is a measure of the energy transferred into a material as an ionizing particle passes through it. This quantity is useful in estimating the biological effects of ionizing radiation as expressed in dosimetric endpoints such as Dose-equivalent. Pixel detectors with silicon sensors –like the Medipix2 Collaboration's Timepix-based devices– are ideal instruments to measure the total energy deposited by a transiting ionizing particle. In this paper we propose an approach for determining the amount of LET from track images obtained with a Timepix-based Si pixel detector. In particular, we have developed a method to calculate the angle of incidence for a heavy ion particle as it passes through a 300 μm thick Si sensor layer based on an analysis of the information in the cluster of pixel hits. Using that angle information, the path length traversed by the particle can be computed, which then facilitates estimating the degree of LET. Results from experiments with data taken at the HIMAC (Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator) facility in Chiba, Japan, and NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven in USA, demonstrate the effectiveness and resolution of our method to determine the angle of incidence and LET of heavy ion particles.