Detector Sensitive Volume Research Articles

Photon Induced Scintillation Amplifier — The PISA concept

Photoelectron signal amplification in gas photomultipliers (GPMs) is achieved through charge avalanche development in the holes of a cascade of hole-type microperforated foils. When a voltage difference is applied between the metal film electrodes that are deposited on both surfaces of those foils, an electric field with a high intensity is established inside the holes. As a consequence, each electron entering those holes produces an electron avalanche that emerges from the other side of the holes. A cascade of few foils is necessary for a single primary electron to produce a final avalanche intense enough to be read out, in the anode electrode, above the electronic noise. We propose the Photon Induced Scintillation Amplifier (PISA), where the photoelectron signal amplification is obtained by reading out the photon scintillation produced in the charge avalanches of solely one Micro-Hole-and-Strip-Plate-type microstructure with SiPMs. The optical readout has the advantage of having the extra gain from the photosensor and is less sensitive to electronic noise. A large photosensor gain produces large output signals that can travel over long distances without significant degradation. This allows for the readout electronics to be placed away from the photosensor and, thus, from the detector sensitive volume. The scintillation readout plane can be made of a 2D-array of SiPMs, with size and pitch in accordance with the needed scintillation level and position resolution. A first basic prototype was assembled to present a proof-of-principle of the PISA concept.

M-TAG: A modular teaching-aid for Geant4

Geant4 is a versatile Monte Carlo radiation transport simulation toolkit with a steep learning curve. This work introduces a user-code called M-TAG (Modular Radiation Teaching-Aid for Geant4), built on top of Geant4. M-TAG is designed to help gradually introduce the Geant4 toolkit to new users.The goal of Geant4 is to record quantities from the simulated radiation as it is transported through geometries. M-TAG simplifies the inclusion of new geometric elements and detector components in the simulation by including new classes. M-TAG also provides basic validated examples for some common detector development tasks. Geant4 intercom modules, called messenger classes, manage these classes. To validate M-TAG, simulations were performed to calculate the range of positrons in water. One hundred million decays at the center of a water-filled sphere with a radius of 1 m were allowed for fluorine-18, carbon-11, oxygen-15 and gallium-68. These results were compared to literature values. An inexperienced Geant4 user was tasked with creating a simulation model for a plastic scintillator-based detector and conducting basic tests to assess the effectiveness of M-TAG as a teaching tool. The simulation involved calculating the dose to the detector's sensitive volume using a 2x2 cm planar monoenergetic photon source spanning energies from 20 to 100 keV. One billion particles were simulated twice: once with the actual detector geometry and once with the sensitive volume replaced by water. The validity of M-TAG was also verified by computing dose ratios and comparing them with mass-attenuation ratios obtained from NIST XCOM data sets.The mean positron travel distances were within the distribution of literature values. Simulated positron energy spectra means were within 1.8% of literature means. Simulated dose ratios agreed with literature values within uncertainties.We have developed and verified a modular Geant4 teaching aid called M-TAG. It was used to introduce a new user to Geant4, who used it to perform further validation simulations.

The effect of spill change on reliable absolute dosimetry in a synchrotron proton spot scanning system.

Absolute dosimetry measurement is an integral part of Treatment Planning System (TPS) commissioning and it involves measuring the integrated absorbed dose to water for all energies in a pencil beam scanning delivery system. During the commissioning of Singapore's first proton therapy center, a uniform scanned field with an Advanced Markus chamber method was employed for this measurement, and a large dose fluctuation of at least 5% was observed for 10% of the energy layers during repeated measurements. This study aims to understand the root cause of this fluctuation by relating the actual delivered spot information in the log file with the charge measurement by the ion chambers. A dedicated pencil beam dose algorithm was developed, taking into account the log file parameters, to calculate the dose for a single energy layer in a homogeneous water phantom. Three energies, 70.2, 182.7, and 228.7 MeV were used in this study, with the 182.7 MeV energy exhibiting large dose fluctuation. The dose fluctuation was investigated as a function of detector's sizes (pinpoint 3D, Advanced Markus, PTW 34070, and PTW 34089) and water depth (2, 6, and 20cm). Twelve ion chambers measurements were performed for each chamber and depth. The comparison of the theoretically predicted integrated dose and the charge measurement served as a validation of the algorithm. About 5.9% and 9.6% dose fluctuation were observed in Advanced Markus and pinpoint 3D measurements at 2cm depth for 182.7 MeV, while fluctuation of 1.6% and 1.1% were observed in Advanced Markus with 228.7 and 70.2 MeV at similar depth. Fluctuation of less than 0.1% was observed for PTW34070 and PTW 34089 for all energies. The fluctuation was found to diminish with larger spot size at 20cm depth to 1.3% for 182.7 MeV. The theoretical and measured charge comparison showed a high linear correlation of for all datasets, indicating the fluctuation originated from the delivered spot characteristics. The cause of fluctuation was identified to be due to the spill change occurring close to the detector, and since the spot positional deviation profiles were different between two spills, this resulted in local hot spots between columns of spots. The actual position of spill change varies randomly during measurement, which led to a random occurrence of hot spot within the detector's sensitive volume and a fluctuating dose measurement. This is the first report of a dose fluctuation greater than 5% in absolute dosimetry measurement with a uniform scanned field and the cause of the fluctuation has been conclusively determined. It is important to choose the MU and scanning pattern carefully to avoid spill change happening when the spot delivery is near the detector.

Ionoacoustic application of an optical hydrophone to detect proton beam range in water.

Proton range uncertainty has been the main factor limiting the ability of proton therapy to concentrate doses to tumors to their full potential. Ionoacoustic (IA) range verification is an approach to reducing this uncertainty by detecting thermoacoustic waves emitted from an irradiated volume immediately following a pulsed proton beam delivery; however, the signal weakness has been an obstacle to its clinical application. To increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) with the conventional piezoelectric hydrophone (PH), the detector-sensitive volume needs to be large, but it could narrow the range of available beam angles and disturb real-time images obtained during beam delivery. To prevent this issue, we investigated a millimeter-sized optical hydrophone (OH) that exploits the laser interferometric principle. For two types of IA waves [γ-wave emitted from the Bragg peak (BP) and a spherical IA wave with resonant frequency (SPIRE) emitted from the gold fiducial marker (GM)], comparisons were made with PH in terms of waveforms, SNR, range detection accuracy, and signal intensity robustness against the small detector misalignment, particularly for SPIRE. A 100-MeV proton beam with a 27 ns pulse width and 4 mm beam size was produced using a fixed-field alternating gradient accelerator and was irradiated to the water phantom. The GM was set on the beam's central axis. Acrylic plates of various thicknesses, up to 12mm, were set in front of the phantoms to shift the proton range. OH was set distal and lateral to the beam, and the range was estimated using the time-of-flight method for γ-wave and by comparing with the calibration data (SPIRE intensity versus the distance between the GM and BP) derived from an IA wave transport simulation for SPIRE. The BP dose per pulse was 0.5-0.6Gy. To measure the variation in SPIRE amplitude against the hydrophone misalignment, the hydrophone was shifted by±2mm at a maximum in lateral directions. Despite its small size, OH could detect γ-wave with a higher SNR than the conventional PH (diameter, 29mm), and a single measurement was sufficient to detect the beam range with a submillimeter accuracy in water. In the SPIRE measurement, OH was far more robust against the detector misalignment than the focused PH (FPH) used in our previous study [5%/mm (OH) versus 80%/mm (FPH)], and the correlation between the measured SPIRE intensity and the distance between the GM and BP agreed well with the simulation results. However, the OH sensitivity was lower than the FPH sensitivity, and about 5.6-Gy dose was required to decrease the intensity variation among measurements to less than 10%. The miniature OH was found to detect weak IA signals produced by proton beams with a BP dose used in hypofractionated regimens. The OH sensitivity improvement at the MHz regime is worth exploring as the next step.

A systematic study of the contribution of counting statistics to the final lineal energy uncertainty in microdosimetry

Objectives. Microdosimetry is proving to be a reliable and powerful tool to be applied in different fields such as radiobiology, radiation protection and hadron therapy. However, accepted standard protocols and codes of practice are still missing. With this regard, a systematic and methodical uncertainty analysis is fundamental to build an accredited uncertainty budget of practical use. This work studied the contribution of counting statistics (i.e. number of events collected) to the final frequency-mean and dose-mean lineal energy uncertainties, aiming at providing guidelines for good experimental and simulation practice. The practical limitation of current technologies and the non-negligible probability of nuclear reactions require careful considerations and nonlinear approaches. Approach. Microdosimetric data were obtained by means of the particle tracking Monte Carlo code Geant4. The uncertainty analysis was carried out relying on a Monte Carlo based numerical analysis, as suggested by the BIPM's ‘Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement’. Final uncertainties were systematically investigated for proton, helium and carbon ions at an increasing number of detected events, for a range of different clinical-relevant beam energies. Main results. Rare events generated by nuclear interactions in the detector sensitive volume were found to massively degrade microdosimetric uncertainties unless a very high statistics is collected. The study showed an increasing impact of such events for increasing beam energy and lighter ions. For instance, in the entrance region of a 250 MeV proton beam, about 5 ∗ 107 events need to be collected to obtain a dose-mean lineal energy uncertainty below 10%. Significance. The results of this study help define the necessary conditions to achieve appropriate statistics in computational microdosimetry, pointing out the importance of properly taking into account nuclear interaction events. Their impact on microdosimetric quantities and on their uncertainty is significant and cannot be overlooked, particularly when characterising clinical beams and radiobiological response. This work prepared the ground for deeper investigations involving dedicated experiments and for the development of a method to properly evaluate the counting statistics uncertainty contribution in the uncertainty budget, whose accuracy is fundamental for the clinical transition of microdosimetry.

Natural Convection and Transport of Background Contamination in the Borexino Neutrino Detector

Abstract The Borexino detector at Gran Sasso National Laboratories (INFN) has obtained extraordinary achievements for solar neutrino and geoneutrino physics during its lifetime. More recently, Borexino has provided the first experimental evidence of the subdominant CNO solar neutrino flux, thanks to an outstanding low background level obtained by means of intense purification campaigns and a continuous improvement of the detector thermal stabilization over the years. In particular, this impressive thermal steadiness has led to a progressive mitigation of the internal convective currents which are responsible for the continuous background contamination of the detector sensitive inner volume. To this purpose, numerical analyses are essential to better comprehend the detector fluid dynamics, the background behavior, and are also important to propose effective countermeasures to further reduce natural convection inside the detector. In this framework, the present work investigates the flow characteristics of the liquid scintillator by means of computational fluid dynamics analyses. In particular, a full 3D model of the Borexino inner vessel is considered in the simulations, addressing the complex nature of the natural convective currents under consideration both in transient and stationary conditions. The calculated flow pattern has been adopted to predict the transport behavior of 210Po, that is fundamental for the independent constraint of 210Bi, the main background constituent affecting CNO measurement. The convection-diffusion analysis demonstrates the applicability of the adopted methodology showing a good agreement between calculation and experimental data.

Cema‐based formalism for the determination of absorbed dose for high‐energy photon beams

Determination of absorbed dose is well established in many dosimetry protocols and considered to be highly reliable using ionization chambers under reference conditions. If dosimetry is performed under other conditions or using other detectors, however, open questions still remain. Such questions frequently refer to appropriate correction factors. A converted energy per mass (cema)-based approach to formulate such correction factors offers a good understanding of the specific response of a detector for dosimetry under various measuring conditions and thus an estimate of pros and cons of its application. Determination of absorbed dose requires the knowledge of the beam quality correction factor kQ,Qo , where Q denotes the quality of a user beam and Qo is the quality of the radiation used for calibration. In modern Monte Carlo (MC)-based methods, kQ,Qo is directly derived from the MC-calculated dose conversion factor, which is the ratio between the absorbed dose at a point of interest in water and the mean absorbed dose in the sensitive volume of an ion chamber. In this work, absorbed dose is approximated by the fundamental quantity cema. This approximation allows the dose conversion factor to be substituted by the cema conversion factor. Subsequently, this factor is decomposed into a product of cema ratios. They are identified as the stopping power ratio water to the material in the sensitive detector volume, and as the correction factor for the fluence perturbation of the secondary charged particles in the detector cavity caused by the presence of the detector. This correction factor is further decomposed with respect to the perturbation caused by the detector cavity and that caused by external detector properties. The cema-based formalism was subsequently tested by MC calculations of the spectral fluence of the secondary charged particles (electrons and positrons) under various conditions. MC calculations demonstrate that considerable fluence perturbation may occur particularly under non-reference conditions. Cema-based correction factors to be applied in a 6-MV beam were obtained for a number of ionization chambers and for three solid-state detectors. Feasibility was shown at field sizes of 4×4 and 0.5cm ×0.5cm. Values of the cema ratios resulting from the decomposition of the dose conversion factor can be well correlated with detector response. Under the small field conditions, the internal fluence correction factor of ionization chambers is considerably dependent on volume averaging and thus on the shape and size of the cavity volume. The cema approach is particularly useful at non-reference conditions including when solid-state detectors are used. Perturbation correction factors can be expressed and evaluated by cema ratios in a comprehensive manner. The cema approach can serve to understand the specific response of a detector for dosimetry to be dependent on (a) radiation quality, (b) detector properties, and (c) electron fluence changes caused by the detector. This understanding may also help to decide which detector is best suited for a specific measurement situation.

The dose response of high-resolution diode-type detectors and the role of their structural components in strong magnetic field.

This study aims to investigate the dose response of diode-type detectors in the presence of strong magnetic field and to understand the underlying mechanisms leading to the observed magnetic field dependence by close examinations on the role of the detector's design. Three clinical diode-type detectors (PTW microSilicon type 60023, PTW microDiamond type 60019, and IBA Razor diode) have been studied. Measurements were performed at the linear accelerator experimental facility of the German National Metrology Institute (PTB, Braunschweig) with electromagnets up to 1.4T to obtain the magnetic field correction factors . The experimental results were compared to Monte Carlo simulations. Stepwise modifications of the detectors' models were performed to characterize the contributions of the structural components toward the magnetic field-dependent dose response. Additionally, systematic Monte Carlo study was conducted to elucidate the influence of the structural layers with varying density located above and beneath the detector's sensitive volume. The dose response of all investigated detectors decreases with magnetic field. As a result, the associated factors increase by approximately 10% for the PTW detectors, and by 5% for the IBA Razor diode at 1.5T. The sensitive volume itself was shown to cause negligible effect but the diode substrate with enhanced density situated directly below the sensitive volume contributes strongest to the observed magnetic field dependence. Systematic simulations revealed that increases with magnetic field if the density of the structural layer located beneath the sensitive volume is higher than that of normal water (>1g/cm3 ). In the case where the layer consists of low-density water (1.2mg/cm3 ), decreases with the magnetic field strength. On the contrary , if the structural layer with varying density is situated above the sensitive volume, the reversed effect could be observed. The experimental and Monte Carlo results demonstrated that the dose response of the investigated diode-type detectors decreases in magnetic field. This observation can be generally attributed to the common construction of diode-type detectors, where structural components with enhanced density, for example the diode substrate, are situated below the sensitive volume. The results provide deeper insights into the behavior of clinical diode detectors when used in strong magnetic field.

Response of Cadmium Zinc Telluride Compound Semi-Conductor Detector against Gamma Photons by Efficiency Calculation: A Microdosimetry Simulation Study

Introduction: Cadmium zinc telluride has recently been used as a compound semiconductor detector in a wide range of fields. The current study is a comprehensive investigation of the performance of this detector against the photon beam. Moreover, a comparative study was carried out with other common detectors using the Mote Carlo code by the implementation of the same strategy. Material and Methods: During the simulation by FLUKA code, a number of photons were regarded as primary particles. It is attractive to trace each incident photon uniquely considering all possible collisions and produced secondary particles at the microdosimetry scale. In the current study, the coordinate of three-dimensional collisions location was realized at detector sensitive volume. Moreover, energy deposition was considered at each unique collision and through all interactions, totally. In addition, the physical concepts of photon interaction with detector volume were assessed, numerically. Furthermore, the effect of gold foils implemented as electrode at both sides of the detector was taken into account. Results: The obtained results indicated the context of photoelectric and Compton scattering in photon interactions with CZT, including the number of interactions, the deposited energy, and three-dimensional collision coordinate, while the latter case is proposed as a new achievement. Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, the performance of this detector can be improved by changing material fraction and detector dimension to achieve optimum efficiency. In addition, the comparative results demonstrated that the efficiency of CZT covered by gold electrodes is superior to other common available semi-conductor detectors.

An application of extensions of the Ramo–Shockley theorem to signals in silicon sensors

We discuss an extension of the Ramo-Shockley theorem that allows the calculation of signals in detectors that contain non-linear materials of arbitrary permittivity and finite conductivity (volume resistivity) as well as a static space-charge. The readout-electrodes can be connected by an arbitrary impedance network. This formulation is useful for the treatment of semiconductor sensors where the finite volume resistivity in the sensitive detector volume cannot be neglected. The signals are calculated by means of time dependent weighting fields and weighting vectors. These are calculated by adding voltage or current signals to the electrodes in question, which has a very practical application when using semiconductor device simulation programs. An analytic example for an un-depleted silicon sensor is given.

Decomposition of the dose conversion factor based on fluence spectra of secondary charged particles: Application to lateral dose profiles in photon fields.

The dose conversion factor plays an important role in the dosimetry by enabling the absorbed dose in the sensitive volume of a detector to be converted into the absorbed dose in the surrounding medium (in most cases water). The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that a specific fluence-based approach for the decomposition of the dose conversion factor is in particular useful for the interpretation of the influences of detector properties on measurements under nonreference conditions. Data for the dose conversion factor and secondary fluence spectra were obtained by the Monte Carlo method. The calculation of the secondary charged particle fluence (electrons and positrons) in the sensitive detector volume was imbedded into the code for the calculation of absorbed dose in the detector. The decomposition method into subfactors is based on the use of these fluence data applied to a stepwise transition from the dose at the point of measurement next to a pure water detector and finally to the fully simulated detector geometry. Each subfactor is obtained as a ratio, at which the stopping power only is different in the numerator and the denominator or at which the fluence only is different in the numerator and the denominator. This method was applied at photon dose profiles obtained in water at different radiation qualities and with various detectors of cylindrical type. The resulting subfactors can be well identified as a stopping power ratio and as perturbation factors each reflecting particular detector properties. Two of them (f1 and f4 ) are equivalent with perturbation factors which have already been introduced by other authors previously. These are the volume perturbation factor and the extracameral perturbation factor. Subfactor f2 denoted as medium perturbation factor was found to resemble the density perturbation factor. Results obtained for the volume perturbation factor applied to dose profiles measured with cylindrical detectors confirm that the volume effect can be well described by a convolution of the true profile in water with a Gaussian kernel. It was found that the sigma parameter depends on the cylinder radius only and amounts almost exactly to half of its value. The medium perturbation factor strongly depends on the density of the detector medium. For an air-filled detector, the influence of the air again can be described by a Gauss convolution, however, with a less good agreement. For detectors with a density of the cavity medium larger than that of water, for instance, for a diamond detector, it was found that there is a tendency of compensation between the volume averaging effect and the medium effect. The fluence-based decomposition of the dose conversion factor leads to a fluence-based formulation of perturbation factors, referred to as volume, medium, and extracameral perturbation factor. These factors offer useful explanations for the behavior of detectors in nonreference conditions. An example was given for cylindrical detectors at dose profile measurements.

Origins of the changing detector response in small megavoltage photon radiation fields

Differences in detector response between measured small fields, fclin, and wider reference fields, fmsr, can be overcome by using correction factors or by designing detectors with field-size invariant responses. The changing response in small fields is caused by perturbations of the electron fluence within the detector sensitive volume. For solid-state detectors, it has recently been suggested that these perturbations might be caused by the non-water-equivalent effective atomic numbers Z of detector materials, rather than by their non-water-like densities. Using the EGSnrc Monte Carlo code we have analyzed the response of a PTW 60017 diode detector in a 6 MV beam, calculating the correction factor from computed doses absorbed by water and by the detector sensitive volume in 0.5 × 0.5 and 4 × 4 cm2 fields. In addition to the ‘real’ detector, fully modelled according to the manufacturer’s blue-prints, we calculated doses and factors for a ‘Z → water’ detector variant in which mass stopping-powers and microscopic interaction coefficients were set to those of water while preserving real material densities, and for a ‘density → 1’ variant in which densities were set to 1 g cm−3, leaving mass stopping-powers and interaction coefficients at real levels. equalled 0.910 ± 0.005 (2 standard deviations) for the real detector, was insignificantly different at 0.912 ± 0.005 for the ‘Z → H2O’ variant, but equalled 1.012 ± 0.006 for the ‘density → 1’ variant. For the 60017 diode in a 6 MV beam, then, was determined primarily by the detector’s density rather than its atomic composition. Further calculations showed this remained the case in a 15 MV beam. Interestingly, the sensitive volume electron fluence was perturbed more by detector atomic composition than by density; however, the density-dependent perturbation varied with field-size, whereas the Z-dependent perturbation was relatively constant, little affecting .

Impact of the positive ion current on large size neutrino detectors and delayed photon emission

Given their small mobility coefficient in liquid argon with respect to the electrons, the ions spend a considerably longer time in a sensitive detector volume instrumented with an electric field. We studied the effects of the positive ion current in a liquid argon time projection chamber, in the context of massive argon experiments for neutrino physics. The constant recombination between free ions and electrons produces a quenching of the charge signal and a constant emission of photons, uncorrelated in time and space to the physical interactions. The predictions evidence some potential concerns for multi-ton argon detectors, particularly when operated on surface.

Abstract ID: 5 Monte Carlo simulation studies on a beam monitor based on MPGD detectors for hadron therapy

Remarkable scientific and technological progress during the last years has led to the construction of accelerator based facilities dedicated to hadron therapy. This kind of technology requires precise and continuous control of position, intensity and shape of the ions or protons used to irradiate cancers. Patient safety, accelerator operation and dose delivery should be optimized by a real time monitoring of beam intensity and profile before and during the treatment, by using non-destructive, high spatial resolution detectors. The authors have studied, developed and initially tested a beam monitor based on Micro Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGDs) called TPC-GEM (TPG) detector, characterized by high spatial resolution and rate capability. Due to the low amount of material in the active volume, it is “not invasive”, therefore the beam characteristics are preserved, so minimizing the uncertainties on beam position, intensity, energy and stability. Computer simulation could be done as a preliminary step for analyzing the basic characteristics of a detector, and Monte Carlo simulation is one approach that can be established. For a better understanding of the first TPG prototype design, and its further improvements, several Monte Carlo simulations were performed. The aim of this presentation is to give an overview of the full and specific Monte Carlo simulation framework, including different tools (GEANT4, FLUKA/FLAIR, Garfield++, ANSYS and ROOT), developed in order to study in detail the interaction of a therapeutic proton beam with the detector sensitive volume in a typical hadron therapy environment and the performance of the chamber, especially for the calculation of the primary ionization, charge transport through the amplification stages and signal creation. The results obtained will be presented, as well as the future perspectives.

Spectral distribution of particle fluence in small field detectors and its implication on small field dosimetry.

Correction factors for the relative dosimetry of narrow megavoltage photon beams have recently been determined in several publications. These corrections are required because of the several small-field effects generally thought to be caused by the lack of lateral charged particle equilibrium (LCPE) in narrow beams. Correction factors for relative dosimetry are ultimately necessary to account for the fluence perturbation caused by the detector. For most small field detectors the perturbation depends on field size, resulting in large correction factors when the field size is decreased. In this work, electron and photon fluence differential in energy will be calculated within the radiation sensitive volume of a number of small field detectors for 6 MV linear accelerator beams. The calculated electron spectra will be used to determine electron fluence perturbation as a function of field size and its implication on small field dosimetry analyzed. Fluence spectra were calculated with the user code PenEasy, based on the PENELOPE Monte Carlo system. The detectors simulated were one liquid ionization chamber, two air ionization chambers, one diamond detector, and six silicon diodes, all manufactured either by PTW or IBA. The spectra were calculated for broad (10 cm × 10 cm) and narrow (0.5 cm × 0.5 cm) photon beams in order to investigate the field size influence on the fluence spectra and its resulting perturbation. The photon fluence spectra were used to analyze the impact of absorption and generation of photons. These will have a direct influence on the electrons generated in the detector radiation sensitive volume. The electron fluence spectra were used to quantify the perturbation effects and their relation to output correction factors. The photon fluence spectra obtained for all detectors were similar to the spectrum in water except for the shielded silicon diodes. The photon fluence in the latter group was strongly influenced, mostly in the low-energy region, by photoabsorption in the high-Z shielding material. For the ionization chambers and the diamond detector, the electron fluence spectra were found to be similar to that in water, for both field sizes. In contrast, electron spectra in the silicon diodes were much higher than that in water for both field sizes. The estimated perturbations of the fluence spectra for the silicon diodes were 11-21% for the large fields and 14-27% for the small fields. These perturbations are related to the atomic number, density and mean excitation energy (I-value) of silicon, as well as to the influence of the "extracameral"' components surrounding the detector sensitive volume. For most detectors the fluence perturbation was also found to increase when the field size was decreased, in consistency with the increased small-field effects observed for the smallest field sizes. The present work improves the understanding of small-field effects by relating output correction factors to spectral fluence perturbations in small field detectors. It is shown that the main reasons for the well-known small-field effects in silicon diodes are the high-Z and density of the "extracameral" detector components and the high I-value of silicon relative to that of water and diamond. Compared to these parameters, the density and atomic number of the radiation sensitive volume material play a less significant role.

Characterization of SiPM for cryogenic applications

The development of detectors based on liquefied noble gas (LAr, LXe) is mandatory for experiments dedicated to study physics beyond the Standard Model. For this purpose, it is fundamental to detect the Vacuum Ultra Violet (VUV) scintillation light, produced after the passage of ionizing particles inside the detector sensitive volume, to be used for trigger, timing and calorimetric purposes. Besides the traditional cryogenic Photo-Multiplier Tubes (PMTs), one possibility is to adopt Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs). We present a comparison of the performance of a SiPM (mod. ASD-NUV3S-P Low Afterpulse) at various cryogenic temperatures, from 60K up to room temperature, with particular emphasis on the LAr and LXe temperatures. SiPM were characterized in terms of breakdown voltage, gain, pulse shape response, dark count rate and correlated noise.

Advancements in the development of a directional-position sensing fast neutron detector using acoustically tensioned metastable fluids

Advancements in the development of a direction and position sensing fast neutron detector which utilizes the directional acoustic tensioned metastable fluid detector (D-ATMFD) are described. The resulting D-ATMFD sensor is capable of determining the direction of neutron radiation with a single compact detector versus use of arrays of detectors in conventional directional systems. Directional neutron detection and source positioning offer enhanced detection speeds in comparison to traditional proximity searching; including enabling determination of the neutron source shape, size, and strength in near real time. This paper discusses advancements that provide the accuracy and precision of ascertaining directionality and source localization information utilizing enhanced signal processing-cum-signal analysis, refined computational algorithms, and on-demand enlargement capability of the detector sensitive volume. These advancements were accomplished utilizing experimentation and theoretical modeling. Benchmarking and qualifications studies were successfully conducted with random and fission based special nuclear material (SNM) neutron sources (239Pu–Be and 252Cf). These results of assessments have indicated that the D-ATMFD compares well in technical performance with banks of competing directional fast neutron detector technologies under development worldwide, but it does so with a single detector unit, an unlimited field of view, and at a significant reduction in both cost and size while remaining completely blind to common background (e.g., beta-gamma) radiation. Rapid and direct SNM neutron source imaging with two D-ATMFD sensors was experimentally demonstrated, and furthermore, validated via multidimensional nuclear particle transport simulations utilizing MCNP-PoliMi. Characterization of a scaled D-ATMFD based radiation portal monitor (RPM) as a cost-effective and efficient 3He sensor replacement was performed utilizing MCNP-PoliMi simulations, the results of which are discussed and presented.

SU‐E‐T‐328: The Volume Effect Correction of Probe‐Type Dosimetric Detectors Derived From the Convolution Model

Purpose:To derive and introduce a new correction factor kV, the “volume effect correction factor”, that accounts for not only the dose averaging over the detector's sensitive volume but also the secondary electron generation and transport inclusive of the disturbance of the field of secondary electrons within the detector.Materials and Methods:Mathematical convolutions and Fourier's convolution theorem have been used. Monte Carlo simulations of photon pencil beams were performed using EGSnrc. Detector constructions were adapted from manufacturers' information.Results:For the calculation of kV, the three basic convolution kernels have to be taken into account: the dose deposition kernel KD(x) (fluence to dose), the photon fluence response kernel KM(x) (photon fluence to detector signal) and the “dose response kernel” K(x) (dose to detector signal). K(x) is calculated from FT[K(x)] = [1/sqrt(2”)]FT[KM(x)]/FT[KD(x)], where the magnitude of kV(x) can be thereby calculated for arbitrary photon beam profiles and the areanormalized K(x).Conclusions:n order to take into account for the dimensions of dosimetric detectors in narrow photon beams, the “volume effect correction factor” kV has been introduced into the fundamental equation of probe‐type dosimetry, and the convolution method has proven to be a method for the derivation of its numerical values. For narrow photon beams, whose width is comparable to the secondary electron ranges, kV can reach very high values, but it can be shown that the signals of small diamond detectors are well representing the absorbed dose to water averaged over the detector volume.

SU-E-T-232: Micro Diamonds - Determination of Their Lateral Response Function Via Gap-Beam Dose Profiles

Purpose: The aim of this study is the measurement of the lateral response function of microDiamonds by comparison with radiochromic film dose measurement. In this study a TM60019 microDiamond (PTW Freiburg, Germany) and a prototype synthetic diamond detector with smaller sensitive volume were investigated. Methods: Two lead blocks were positioned below the gantry head of an Elekta Synergy accelerator using a gantry mount. Between the blocks two sheets of paper were fixed. The water phantom was positioned below the gantry mount, so that the block to water distance was 20 cm. The gap beam profile was measured at 5 cm water depth by radiochromic EBT3 film and diamond detectors. The film was fixed on a RW3 plate, moved by the step motor system of the phantom and digitized by an Epson 10000XL scanner using the red color channel. Results: The lateral response of the prototype diamond detector is comparable to that of film measurements, i.e. has negligible width. This corresponds to the small detector volume of the prototype detector. In contrast to this the FWHM values of the gap-beam dose profiles measured with the TM60019 detector are somewhat larger, which corresponds to the larger sensitive detector volume. Conclusion: This studymore » has illustrated the high spatial resolution of the diamond detectors. In comparison with filmmeasured narrow-beam dose profiles, the TM60019 has a spatial resolution function of about 2 mm FWHM, whereas the FWHM for the prototype is practically negligible. However due to the low signal caused by the small sensitive volume, measurements with the prototype in clinical routine are a challenge. On the other hand the TM60019 is a good compromise between detector volume and signal output and thus a well suited detector for most clinically relevant small field situations.« less

In vivo dose verification of 3D conformal treatments with the use of an a-Si EPID

In vivo dose verification of 3D conformal treatments with the use of an a-Si EPID