Charged Particle Detection Research Articles

Medium energy charged particle detector with a deflecting electrostatic field for measurement of suprathermal electrons, protons, and neutrals aboard next-generation small satellite-1

This paper presents the development, testing, and early operation of a space-borne instrument that can measure and identify charged particles and neutrals in the energy range of 20–400 keV with a 6.25 keV energy resolution. The instrument generates electric fields perpendicular to its entrance aperture, which allows it to identify electrons, ions, and neutrals by deflecting the trajectories of charged particles along the direction of the electric fields. Four identical detector pixels with thin windows, relatively positioned along the direction of the electric fields, independently measure each energy distribution of particles with a total geometric factor of approximately 0.01 cm2·sr. In addition, to measure higher particle fluxes, up to 109/(cm2∙sr∙s), a reduction in particle fluxes by a factor of ∼100 is possible with a mechanical attenuator. Two identical telescopes, each with a field-of-view of 15° × 70°, are orthogonally placed to measure particles with different pitch angles relative to local magnetic fields. The test results of the flight model instrument against laboratory radioisotopes, 241Am, 133Ba, and 14C, are provided, together with results from a numerical simulation to estimate the instrument’s performance. The instrument capabilities are successfully demonstrated with energy spectra of particle distributions acquired from in-orbit operations.

Lead-halide Cs4PbBr6 single crystals for high-sensitivity radiation detection

Low-dimensional perovskite materials and their derivatives with excellent optical performance are promising candidates for light-emission applications. Herein, centimeter lead-halide Cs4PbBr6 single crystals (SCs), which have been used for radiation detection with the indirect conversion method, were synthesized by a facile solution process. The Cs4PbBr6 scintillator exhibits bright green emission peaking at 525 nm and a high photoluminescence quantum yield (up to 86.7%) under 375 nm laser excitation. The Cs4PbBr6 SCs exhibit high sensitivity to 40 keV X-rays, with a favorable linearity with the X-ray exposure dose rate, and the detection limit is as low as 64.4 nGyair/s. The scintillation time-response performance of the Cs4PbBr6 SCs was acquired by a time-correlated single-photon counting system under alpha-particle excitation. The Cs4PbBr6 SCs exhibit a very fast time response (τav = 1.46 ns) to alpha particles from a 241Am radiation source. This value is comparable to that of the commercial plastic scintillator EJ-228 (τav = 1.31 ns) and much faster than that of the LYSO(Ce) scintillator (τav = 36.17 ns). Conceptual X-ray imaging and alpha-particle pulse height spectroscopy experiments were also performed. These results demonstrated the potential of Cs4PbBr6 SCs for radiation detection applications, including X-ray imaging and charged particle detection with fast scintillation decay time and high sensitivity.

The statistics of electron–hole avalanches

Charge multiplication through avalanche processes is commonly employed in the detection of single photons or charged particles in high-energy physics and beyond. In this report, we provide a detailed discussion of the properties of avalanches driven by two species of charge carriers, e.g. electrons and holes in a semiconductor exposed to an electric field. We derive equations that describe the general case of avalanches developing in position-dependent electric fields and give their analytical solutions for constant fields. We discuss consequences for the time resolution achievable with detectors that operate above the breakdown limit, e.g. single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) and silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). Our results also describe avalanches that achieve finite gain and are important for avalanche photodiodes (APDs) and low-gain avalanche detectors (LGADs).

Characterization of low-pressure MWPC from 1E3 to 1E5 Pa

The LPMWPC can be used as the Δ E detector for the low-energy charged particle detection. In order to increase the transmittance, the wires were adopted as the cathode. This work investigated the LPMWPC signal characteristics of this configuration and measured the gas gain with a mixture of 90%Ar and 10% CO2 from 1E3 to 1E5 Pa. From the test, the second pulse after the avalanche signal was observed, which proved to be caused by the ions' drifting near the cathode wire.

Systematic Analysis of Reliability of Large-Area 4H-SiC Charged Particle Detector Under Harsh He Ion Irradiation

Silicon carbide (SiC) detectors have great potential in nuclear fusion diagnosis and intense irradiation field measurement due to their outstanding irradiation resistance, high charge collection efficiency (CCE), and fast pulse response time. However, the irradiation resistance and the performance degradation of SiC detectors as a result of He ion irradiation remains unclear. In this article, SiC detectors based on 4H-type material with the p-i-n junction structure were prepared, and their I-V characteristics, α-particle spectra, and linearity of energy response were evaluated before and after He ion irradiation at fluences ranging from 1×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sup> to 3 ×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">15</sup> cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> . The preirradiated SiC detector exhibited low dark current (<; 1 nA), high CCE (98.5%), and good energy resolution (0.87%). At an He ion irradiation fluence of 1 ×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sup> cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> , detector performance degradation was negligible, with no increase of dark current, CCE decreased to 85%, and a 2.2% degradation of energy resolution. At a fluence of 3 ×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">15</sup> cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> , CCE decreased to 19.3%, with an 8.57% degradation in energy resolution, but the dark current was still lower than 2 nA, with good spectra measurement capabilities and high linearity of energy response. These results indicate that the He ion irradiation resistance of 4H-SiC detectors is 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sup> times greater than silicon (Si) detectors.

Time resolution and efficiency of SPADs and SiPMs for photons and charged particles

We give an analytic treatment of the time resolution and efficiency of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) and Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). We provide closed-form expressions for structures with uniform electric fields and efficient numerical prescriptions for arbitrary electric field configurations. We discuss the sensor performance for single photon detection and also for charged particle detection.

One detector, all the light elements – Low-background NRA, RBS and ERDA for the quantification of elements from hydrogen to fluorine

Presented is a review of the accomplishments, of the light-element program, conducted at the Lund Ion-Beam Analysis Facility. A detailed account is given of the current experimental setup at the total Ion-Beam Analysis Chamber, which is equipped with two Double-Sided Silicon Strip Detectors for charge particle detection, a silicon drift detector for PIXE analysis, an electrostatic deflection system for charge measurement and implements a Nuclear Micro-Probe. A summary of the work conducted to date on the quantification of low Z elements is presented on a case by case basis. Details of the current work efforts and an overview of the advances which are intended in the near future are given.

A 24-Channel Digitizer With a JESD204B-Compliant Serial Interface for High-Speed Detectors

A 24-channel application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for the readout of high-speed CMOS active pixel sensors for charged particle detection is presented. The chip comprises 24 preamplifiers, 24 distinct 12-bit, 25 MSPS Pipelined analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with self-calibration, an internal phase-locked loop (PLL), and a 3 Gbps serial interface that conforms to the JESD204B standard. To simplify interfacing with a variety of sensors, the ASIC also includes an automatic offset calibration loop. The high level of integration of the ASIC reduces overall system cost and area, and exploiting the signal characteristics of the image sensor allows the ADC to be optimized for reduced power dissipation. The use of an integrated serializer and an industry standard protocol simplifies integration of the ASIC into a complete camera system. The ASIC, called the High-Speed Image Preprocessor Targeted for Electron Readout, or HIPSTER, with a die area of 64.26 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> , is packaged in a 480-ball grid array (BGA) and is fabricated in 180-nm CMOS technology. HIPSTER achieves typical differential nonlinearity (DNL) <; 0.55 LSB, input-referred thermal noise of 114.5 μV-rms, and a bit error rate (BER) of better than 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-14</sup> . The power dissipation is 98 mW/channel.

Low-, medium-, and high-spin states in the N=Z+1 nucleus Ga63

The fusion-evaporation reaction $^{28}\mathrm{Si}+^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$ at 122 MeV beam energy was used to populate excited states in the $N=Z+1$ nucleus $^{63}\mathrm{Ga}$. With the combination of the Gammasphere spectrometer and the Microball CsI(Tl) charged-particle detector array, the level scheme of $^{63}\mathrm{Ga}$ was extended by more than a factor of two in terms of number of $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray transitions and excited states, excitation energy $({E}_{x}&gt;30\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV})$, and angular momentum $(I&gt;30\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\hbar})$. Nine regular sequences of states were newly established in the high-spin part of the level scheme. The majority of these rotational band structures could be connected to the previously known part of the level scheme by high-energy $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray transitions in the energy range ${E}_{\ensuremath{\gamma}}=4--6\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$. Low-spin states were assessed by shell-model calculations. The high-spin rotational bands were interpreted and classified by means of cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations.

Layered CMOS SPADs for Low Noise Detection of Charged Particles

This paper reports the characterization of SPAD arrays fabricated in a 150 nm CMOS technology in view of applications to the detection of charged particles. The test vehicle contains SPADs with different active area and operated with different quenching techniques, either passive or active. The set of devices under test (DUTs) consists of single-tier chips, about 30 mm2 in area, with dual-tier structures where two chips are face-to-face bump bonded to each other. In the dual-layer structure obtained in this way, the coincidence signal between overlapping SPAD pairs is read out, with a beneficial impact on the dark count noise performance. The DUT characterization was mainly focused on studying the breakdown voltage in the single-layer arrays and the dark count rate (DCR), measured in different working conditions, in both the single- and the dual-layer structures. Comparison between the DCR performance of the two configurations clearly emphasizes the advantage of the coincidence readout architecture.

Role of Nanopore Geometry in Particle Resolution by Resistive‐Pulse Sensing

AbstractNanopores as resistive pulse sensors can effectively detect single‐particles of several types including molecules without the need of labelling. Although pore geometry has a significant role in the formation of the obtained signals, it has been investigated relatively little. In the present study, we run simulations to consider the effects of pore geometry and compare conical, cigar and hourglass shaped pores at the conditions where both the resistive and conductive pulses occur in the conical pore. We examine the pulse magnitudes in relation to variations in size and charge for spherical particles. We also compare the pore geometries for when the particles pass through an off‐axis trajectory, close to the pore wall. The results show that distorting the conical shape into an hourglass or a cigar shape can significantly enhance the sensing capability of the nanopore. We show that at identical conditions, the hourglass pore only generates resistive pulses unlike the other two geometries. In the absence of the conductive pulses, the hourglass pore is robust to the variations in the particle charge and its pulse magnitudes are less affected by the particle trajectory than the cigar pore. The comparison shows that the hourglass pore may yield the best performance for size discrimination purposes. On the other hand, the conductive pulses carry valuable information and accordingly, by the aid of conductive pulses, the cigar pore can outperform the other geometries for the detection of charged particles.

Description of the "Liulin Ten-Koh" charged particles spectrometer for the Japanese "Ten-Koh" satellite

On 29 October 2018 at 13:08 Japanese Standard Time was successfully launched the Greenhouse gas Observing SATellite (GOSAT-2) from the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center. Piggy-back with the GOSAT-2 satellite in a circular (623 km), polar synchronous orbit, was launched the 22 kilogram mass satellite Ten-Koh (http://kit-okuyama-lab.com/en/ten-koh/). It was developed in Kyushu Institute of Technology by Prof. K. Okuyama, Chief Scientist of the Spacecraft. Ten-Koh satellite is observing Low Earth Environment (LEO). The primary purpose is to provide valuable data for future development of satellites for operation. Ten-Koh's primary science instrument is the Charged Particle Detector (CPD) developed at the Prairie View A&amp;M University, and NASA Johnson's Space Center of Houston, TX, USA. Principal Scientist of this payload is Prof. P. Saganti (https://www.pvamu.edu/raise/space-payload/charged-particle-detector-2018/). Principal Engineer of the CPD project is S. D. Holland (formerly with NASA-JSC and currently with Holland-Space LLC, Houston, TX, USA). SRTI-BAS received a request from Prof. Saganti to develop a Liulin type instrument to be part of the CPD payload. Scientists from SRTI's Solar-Terrestrial Physics Department have developed and handed three units per the request (engineering, flight, and operational models) of the instrument named ?Liulin Ten-Koh?. These instruments are similar to the RADOM instrument, which worked in 2008-2009 on the Indian Moon satellite Chadrayaan-1 [12]. This paper describes the flight model, ?Liulin Ten-Koh Saganti? instrument and the standard sources radiation tests, which were performed during the calibrations in the laboratory of SRTI-BAS. As of this writing, Ten-Koh spacecraft is making polar orbit passes as expected at about 623 km altitude and at 98 degree inclination with very healthy telemetry data as received by several ground stations across the world. The first received data from ?Liulin Ten-Koh Saganti? instrument of the Ten-Koh spacecraft are presented. The available at this moment Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) L-value profiles of the dose rate and the dose to flux ratio (D/F) from 11 December 2018 are compared with the R3DE profile at International Space Station (ISS). In addition, the integral ?Liulin Ten-Koh Saganti? instrument LET spectrum from 11 December 2018 is compared with spectra from other instruments, measured in and out of the Earth magnetosphere.

NEUTRON DEPTH PROFILE CALCULATIONS USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS

Neutron depth profiling (NDP) is a non-destructive technique used for identifying the concentration of impurity isotopes below the sample surface. NDP is carried out by detection of the emitted charged particles resulting from bombarding the sample with neutrons. NDP specifies the isotopic concentration versus the sample depth for a few micrometers below the surface. The sample is bombarded inside a research reactor using a thermal neutron beam. Charged particles like alpha particles or protons are produced from the neutron induced reactions in the sample. Each neutron isotopic interaction produces a certain Q, indicating a specific kinetic energy for the emitted charged particle. As the charged particle travels through the sample to eject the surface, it loses energy to atoms (electrons) on its path. The charged particle energy loss holds information regarding the number of atoms by which the emitted particle passed, thus indicating its original depth. The purpose of this work is to check the capability of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) in predicting the boron concentration profile across a boro-silicate sample of thickness 3.5 μm divided into 10 layers. Each layer included different boron concentration than the other. Also, the boron concentration had the values {0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1}. Training, validation, and test data were generated synthetically using MCNP6 in which the boron concentrations varied in the layer number from one sample to another. MCNP6 model consisted of a silicon barrier detector, boro-silicate sample, chamber body and an idealized thermal neutron source. The detector, sample, and the source were located in a voided chamber. The samples were irradiated with a 0.025 eV monoenergetic thermal neutron beam from a monodirectional disk source. To cover the whole area of the samples, the thermal neutron beam had a radius of 3 cm. The silicon detector active volume was modelled as a 100 μm thick and 3 cm radius facing the sample directly. The sample, beam, and the detector were placed on the same axis. Ten ANN regression models were developed, one for each layer boron concentration prediction where the input for each model was the alpha spectrum read by the detector, while the output was the boron concentration for each layer. Results showed regression values higher than 0.94 for all of the developed models. ANNs proved its capability of predicting the boron profile form the alpha spectrum read by the detector regarding neutron depth profiling in a boro-silicate samples.

SILICON CARBIDE NEUTRON DETECTOR PROTOTYPE TESTING AT THE JSI TRIGA REACTOR FOR ENHANCED BORDER AND PORTS SECURITY

In 2016, the “E-SiCure” project (standing for “Engineering Silicon Carbide for Border and Port Security”), funded by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme was launched. The main objective is to combine theoretical, experimental and applied research towards the development of radiation-hard SiC-based detectors of special nuclear materials (SNM), with the end goal to enhance border and port security barriers. Prototype neutron detectors, configured as 4H-SiC-based Schottky barrier diodes, were developed for the detection of secondary charged particles (tritons, alphas and lithium atoms) which are the result of thermal neutron reactions on 10B and 6LiF layers above the surface of the 4H-SiC diodes. We designed a stand-alone prototype detection system, consisting of a preamplifier, shaping amplifier and a multichannel analyser operated by a laptop computer, for testing of neutron detector prototypes at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) TRIGA reactor using a broad beam of reactor neutrons. The reverse bias for the detector diode and the power to electronic system were provided by a standalone battery-powered voltage source. The detector functionality was established through measurements using an 241Am alpha particle source. Two dedicated experimental campaigns were performed at the JSI TRIGA reactor. The registered pulse height spectra from the detectors, using both 10B and 6LiF neutron converting layers, clearly demonstrated the neutron detection abilities of the SiC detector prototypes. The computed neutron detection sensitivity of the single prototype detectors demonstrates that scaling SiC detectors into larger arrays, of dimensions relevant for border and port radiation detectors, could enable neutron sensitivity levels matching gas-based detector technology.

From nuclear astrophysics to fundamental nuclear physics: challenging experimental approaches at n_TOF (CERN)

The n_TOF installation at CERN is one of the leading neutron facilities worldwide undergoing a major update of the neutron spallation source. The update will provide improved n-TOF resolution in the experimental areas and the possibility to perform neutron cross section measurements at very high neutron flux (NEAR-Station). The renewed capabilities of the facility must be supported by smart and non-conventional experimental approaches. In this framework two examples will be reported. The first one concerns the measurement of a key reaction channel involved in Primordial Nucleosynthesis: the 7Be(n, α), by using a radioactive 7Be target. The second one provides a state-of-the-art scenario for the n-n scattering length measurement. This will be performed by neutron-deuteron (n-d) breakup three-body reaction. In this case, the envisaged experimental setup will provide a complete three-body kinematic reconstruction. By these important physics cases we are crossing the technological frontiers for charged particle and neutron detection.

Calibration Procedures for Accurate Timing and Directional Reconstruction of EAS Particle-fronts with Astroneu Stations

The Astroneu array consists of three autonomous Extensive Air Shower (EAS) detection stations installed and operated at the Hellenic Open University campus. Each station (Astroneu station) combines two different detection technologies. Three charged particle detectors arranged in a triangle and an RF antenna in the middle. Before installation several calibration procedures were performed both to the individual detectors of the array as well as to each integrated Astroneu station. In this paper we present the development of simulation methods, data analysis techniques and experimental procedures, which have been used to calibrate and optimize the operating parameters of the Astroneu particle detectors, to process the experimental signals and extract timing and amplitude information, to correct for systematic biases and estimate precisely the particle-front arrival time on each individual detector resulting to accurate reconstruction of the detected EAS direction. Furthermore, the performance of the Astroneu telescope in detecting and reconstructing EAS is demonstrated with special inter-calibration runs, where pairs of stations are detecting simultaneously the same air shower, as well as with comparisons against the predictions of a detailed simulation description of the detectors.

Response of CR-39 nuclear track detectors to protons with non-normal incidence

This paper presents data from experiments with protons at non-normal incidence to CR-39 nuclear track detectors, analyzing the properties of detection efficiency, proton track diameter, track contrast, and track eccentricity. Understanding the CR-39 response to protons incident at an angle is important for designing charged particle detectors for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) applications. This study considers protons with incident energies less than 3 MeV. In this regime, an incident angle of 10° has no effect on CR-39 detection efficiency, and >85% detection efficiency is preserved up through 25° in the range of 1.0 MeV-2.1 MeV. For ICF applications, incident angles above 30° are deemed impractical for detector design due to significant drops in proton detection at all energies. We observe significant reductions in detection efficiency compared to theoretical predictions, particularly at low energies where proton tracks are etched away. The proton track diameter measured by the scan system is observed to decrease with higher incident angles. The track diameters are analyzed with two fitting models, and it is shown that the diameter-energy relation can be fit with the existing models at angles up to 30°. The optical contrast of the tracks tends to increase with the angle, meaning that the tracks are fainter, and a larger increase is observed for higher energies. Eccentricity, a measure of how elongated proton tracks are, increases with the incident angle and drops after the critical angle. The lowest energy tracks remain nearly circular even at higher angles.

Radiation Hardness Test of a Silicon Detector under Radiation Dose Rate of Nuclear Power Plant for In-Containment Coolant Leakage Detection System

An influence evaluation by background radiation on a silicon detector, which will be used to detect a coolant leakage, and installed in a containment building of a nuclear power plant, was performed and the result was discussed. The detector that consists of a silicon sensor and preamplifier mounted in a shielding structure which composed of a 5 cm lead cylinder will be installed in an annulus zone that is influenced by background radiation (neutron and gamma ray) from an operation of a nuclear reactor. Absorbed dose rates on a silicon sensor and preamplifier were calculated as 2.15 mGy/hr and 1.05 mGy/hr, respectively, by Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) simulation. Data of background radiation had referred to a Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) of a nuclear power plant in the Republic of Korea. A silicon sensor and preamplifier were irradiated by a Co60 gamma radiation source equipped in a facility of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute Advanced Radiation Technology Institute (KAERI ARTI) of the Republic of Korea. A Po-210 alpha source was used as a check source to evaluate a state of a function of the detector during gamma irradiation. Absorbed dose rates were about 22.92 mGy/hr and 6.6 mGy/hr on silicon sensor and preamplifier, respectively. Before and during gamma irradiation, a count rates from the check source wasn`t changed (from 18.4 cps to 18.4±0.2 cps after irradiation), and any degradations of function also weren`t observed. Even more harsh condition than calculated dose rates referred by the condition of background radiation of in-containment, the silicon detector maintained the ability of function of charged particles detection. Based on the result, it has been demonstrated that a silicon detector is a suitable detector for detecting charged particles from a leaked coolant even during interfered by the background radiation of a primary system of a nuclear power plant.

The NArCoS Project: efficiency estimation and the cross talk problem studied through Monte Carlo simulations

With the advent of the new radioactive beam facilities it is necessary to develop neutron detection systems integrated with charged particle ones. The integration of the neutron signal, especially in using neutron rich beams, becomes a mandatory requirement in order to study the property of the nuclear matter in extreme conditions. For this reason new detectors using new materials have to be built. In this contribution, some new results about the efficiency estimation and the cross talk problem studied through GEANT4 simulations, related to the NArCoS project, will be described with the aim to design a new detector of both good energy and angular resolution. The detection of neutrons and charged particles in the same elementary detection cell is envisaged.

Energy response and in-flight background simulationfor GECAM

The Gravitational wave high-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) is designed to detect gravitational wave gamma-ray bursts and other high-energy transient sources in the energy range of 6 keV–5 MeV. It has the characteristics of all-sky field of view, high sensitivity, good positioning accuracy and wide band coverage. The mission consists of two satellites with each containing 25 gamma-ray detectors (GRD) and 8 charged particle detectors. In this paper, the energy response matrix and in-flight background of each GECAM detector are obtained by Geant4 simulation. The simulation results show that the GECAM has stronger observation ability than the Fermi/GBM in low-energy range. The average in-flight background of a single GRD is about 800 cps, and there are three characteristic peaks that can be used for on-orbit calibration.