Measurement of the efficiency of the pattern recognition of tracks generated by ionizing radiation in a TIMEPIX detector

Abstract

A hybrid silicon pixelated TIMEPIX detector (256 × 256 square pixels with a pitch of 55 μm) operated in Time Over Threshold (TOT) mode was exposed to radioactive sources and protons after Rutherford Backscattering on a thin gold foil of protons beams delivered by the Tandem Accelerator of the Montreal University. Simultaneous exposure of TIMEPIX to radioactive sources and to protons beams on top of the radioactive sources allowed measurements with different mixed radiation fields of protons, alpha-particles, photons and electrons. All measurements were performed in vacuum. The comparison of the experimental activities (determined from the measurement of the number of tracks left in the device by incoming particles) of the radioactive sources with their expected activities allowed the test of the device efficiency for track recognition. The efficiency of track recognition of incident protons of different energies as a function of the incidence angle was measured. The cluster size left by protons in the device was measured as a function of their incident energy at normal and large (75°) incident angles. The operation of TIMEPIX in TOT mode has allowed a 3D mapping of the charge spreading effect in the whole volume of the silicon sensor. The results of the present measurements demonstrate the TIMEPIX capability of differentiating between different types of particles species from mixed radiation fields and measuring their energy deposition. Single track analysis gives a good precision (significantly better than the 55 μm size of one detector pixel) on the coordinates of the impact point of protons with normal incidence interacting in the TIMEPIX silicon layer.