Table of contents

We previously developed an automatic track scanning system which enables the detection of large-angle nuclear fragments in the nuclear emulsion films of the OPERA experiment. As a next step, we have investigated this system's track recognition capability for large-angle minimum ionizing particles (1.0 ⩽ |tan θ| ⩽ 3.5). This paper shows that, for such tracks, the system has a detection efficiency of 95% or higher and reports the achieved angular accuracy of the automatically recognized tracks. This technology is of general purpose and will likely contribute not only to various analyses in the OPERA experiment, but also to future experiments, e.g. on low-energy neutrino and hadron interactions, or to future research on cosmic rays using nuclear emulsions carried by balloons.

A source of epithermal neutrons based on a tandem accelerator with vacuum insulation for boron neutron capture therapy of malignant tumors was proposed and constructed. Stationary proton beam with 2 MeV energy, 1.6 mA current, 0.1% energy monochromaticity and 0.5% current stability has just been obtained.

In our previous work, we proposed a novel design for a gamma-ray detector module capable of measuring the depth of interaction (DOI). In this paper, we further developed DOI-PET detector modules and a data acquisition system, and evaluated its performance. Each detector module was composed of a 3-D scintillator array and two large-area monolithic Multi-Pixel Photon Counter (MPPC) arrays coupled to both ends of the 3-D scintillator array, leading to only 8-ch signal outputs from a module. The 3-D scintillator array was composed of 9 × 9 × 7 matrices of 1.0 × 1.0 × 3.0 mm³ Ce:GAGG crystals. The detector module showed good energy resolution of 10.6% as measured at 511 keV and a high average peak to valley ratio higher than 8 for each pixel crystal identified in the X-Y-Z directions. Moreover, we evaluated the spatial resolution of a virtual 18-ch PET gantry simulated by using two detector modules that were flexibly controlled using both the X-stage and θ-stage in 20-degree steps. By measuring a ²²Na point source (0.25 mm in diameter), we showed that spatial resolution substantially degrades from 1.0 mm to 7.8 mm (FWHM; as measured at 0 mm and 28 mm off-center) with a non-DOI configuration, whereas the corresponding values for the DOI configuration were 0.9 mm and 1.5 mm, respectively (FWHM; as measured at 0 mm and 28 mm off-center). This preliminary study confirms that our DOI-PET module is useful for future high spatial resolution and compact small-animal PET scanners without radial image distortions at the peripheral regions of the field of view (FOV).

A novel large aperture quasi-optical imaging system is designed for the new dual-array electron cyclotron emission (ECE) imaging (ECEI) instrument on the EAST tokamak. The zoom doublet scheme is used in the microwave imaging system on a super-conducting tokamak for the first time, and the focal plane can reach the high magnetic field side region even in the narrowest zoom configuration. The best spatial resolution in the vertical direction is 1.1 cm and the maximum vertical coverage can reach 80 cm. The field curvature is largely reduced in the narrow zoom configuration by the parabolic correction of a single lens surface. The imaging performance is fully characterized in the laboratory, and the characterized beam patterns show good agreements with the Gaussian beam specifications in the simulation results of the design.

JUNGFRAU (adJUstiNg Gain detector FoR the Aramis User station) is a two-dimensional pixel detector for photon science applications at free electron lasers and synchrotron light sources. It is developed for the SwissFEL currently under construction at the Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland. Characteristics of this application-specific integrating circuit readout chip include single photon sensitivity and low noise over a dynamic range of over four orders of magnitude of photon input signal. These characteristics are achieved by a three-fold gain-switching preamplifier in each pixel, which automatically adjusts its gain to the amount of charge deposited on the pixel. The final JUNGFRAU chip comprises 256 × 256 pixels of 75 × 75 μm² each. Arrays of 2 × 4 chips are bump-bonded to monolithic detector modules of about 4 × 8 cm². Multi-module systems up to 16 Mpixels are planned for the end stations at SwissFEL. A readout rate in excess of 2 kHz is anticipated, which serves the readout requirements of SwissFEL and enables high count rate synchrotron experiments with a linear count rate capability of > 20 MHz/pixel. Promising characterization results from a 3.6 × 3.6 mm² prototype (JUNGFRAU 0.2) with fluorescence X-ray, infrared laser and synchrotron irradiation are shown. The results include an electronic noise as low as 100 electrons root-mean-square, which enables single photon detection down to X-ray energies of about 2 keV. Noise below the Poisson fluctuation of the photon number and a linearity error of the pixel response of about 1% are demonstrated. First imaging experiments successfully show automatic gain switching. The edge spread function of the imaging system proves to be comparable in quality to single photon counting hybrid pixel detectors.

The present manuscripts discusses the development of a forty stage, 22 kV solid-state pulser based on Linear Transformer Driver (LTD) topology employing 240 MOSFET switches operating at rep-rate of 1 kHz. A transformer based triggering scheme is implemented which enables the switches to operate at a jitter of < 5 ns. Each stage drives ∼ 220 A peak pulsed current and the output voltage of forty such stages are inductively added to generate 22 kV across 100 Ω resistive load, having a rise time of ∼ 20 ns. The paper presents the developmental steps, highlighting the temporal jitter characteristics ∼ 5 ns (peak to peak jitter measured at output voltage at load end) demonstrated by the system.

The method for RF orbit separation of electron and positron beams in the VEPP-4M collider is developed and demonstrated. This system is designed to replace the conventional electrostatic orbit separator in the prospective CPT test experiment based on comparison of the spin precession frequencies of electron and positron. The electrostatic separator may yield an unacceptable systematic error of 10⁻⁶ in the experiment against the required one of better than 10⁻⁸ which can be provided with the RF system.

The metastable ^83mKr with short half-life of 1.83 h is intended as a space distributed source of monoenergetic electrons for energy calibration and systematic studies in the Karlsruhe tritium neutrino experiment (KATRIN). The efficient production of the parent radionuclide ⁸³Rb at cyclotron U-120M was implemented. The release of the ^83mKr from zeolite (molecular sieve), in which the parent radionuclide ⁸³Rb (T_1/2 = 86.2 d) was trapped, was studied under various conditions using the gamma spectroscopy. Residual gas analysis of ultra high vacuum over the zeolite was performed as well.

Electron-optical imaging instruments like Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) use specially designed solenoid electromagnets for focusing of the electron beam. Indicators of imaging performance of these instruments, like spatial resolution, have a strong correlation with the focal characteristics of the magnetic lenses, which in turn have been shown to be sensitive to the details of the spatial distribution of the axial magnetic field. Owing to the complexity of designing practical lenses, empirical mathematical expressions are important to obtain the desired focal properties. Thus the degree of accuracy of such models in representing the actual field distribution determines accuracy of the calculations and ultimately the performance of the lens. Historically, the mathematical models proposed by Glaser [1] and Ramberg [2] have been extensively used. In this paper the authors discuss another model with a secant-hyperbolic type magnetic field distribution function, and present a comparison between models, utilizing results from finite element-based field simulations as the reference for evaluating performance.

Gas bremsstrahlung is generated in high energy electron storage rings through interaction of the electron beam with the residual gas molecules in vacuum chamber. In this paper, Monte Carlo calculation has been performed to evaluate radiation hazard due to gas bremsstrahlung in the Iranian Light Source Facility (ILSF) insertion devices. Shutter/stopper dimensions is determined and dose rate from the photoneutrons via the giant resonance photonuclear reaction which takes place inside the shutter/stopper is also obtained. Some other characteristics of gas bremsstrahlung such as photon fluence, energy spectrum, angular distribution and equivalent dose in tissue equivalent phantom have also been investigated by FLUKA Monte Carlo code.

The Liquid Xenon Time Projection Chamber (LXeTPC) is often seen as an ideal detector for the direct Dark Matter (DM) search. In such experiments an efficient γ-ray background discrimination is essential. This can be achieved by distinguishing the ionization density, different for γ-rays and Nuclear Recoils. Two quantities are used for this measurement, the direct scintillation light generated by the ionizing event, and the free charges swept away by an electric field before recombination occurs. Present LXe detectors apply the Dual Phase principle, i.e. the charges are extracted into the gas phase and are measured by the proportional light they produce in a strong electric field in the gas. With ever growing dimensions of the detectors it is difficult to meet the tight mechanical tolerances required.

Proportional scintillation also occurs in the liquid phase, although at much higher field strengths. Such field strengths can be reached in the 1/r field close to thin wires. All the limitations due to the extraction of electrons into the gas phase are avoided. Since the liquid level has not to be crossed, the design of the detector becomes simpler with many advantages over Dual Phase detectors. Our initial tests clearly show the pulses. They are much shorter, and their length is limited by longitudinal diffusion of the drifting charges. The threshold for proportional light production seems significantly lower, and estimates of the gain are more favorable than previously predicted. We attribute these discrepancies to our improved liquid purity.

The ICARUS T600 detector, the largest liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LAr-TPC) realized after many years of R&D activities, was installed and successfully operated for 3 years at the INFN Gran Sasso underground Laboratory. One of the most important issues was the need of an extremely low residual electronegative impurity content in the liquid Argon, in order to transport the free electrons created by ionizing particles with very small attenuation along the drift path. The solutions adopted for the Argon recirculation and purification systems have permitted to reach impressive results in terms of Argon purity and a free electron lifetime exceeding 15 ms, corresponding to about 20 parts per trillion of O₂-equivalent contamination, a milestone for any future project involving LAr-TPCs and the development of higher detector mass scales.

Measuring cross-sections at the LHC requires the luminosity to be determined accurately at each centre-of-mass energy √s. In this paper results are reported from the luminosity calibrations carried out at the LHC interaction point 8 with the LHCb detector for √s = 2.76, 7 and 8 TeV (proton-proton collisions) and for √s_NN = 5 TeV (proton-lead collisions). Both the "van der Meer scan" and "beam-gas imaging" luminosity calibration methods were employed. It is observed that the beam density profile cannot always be described by a function that is factorizable in the two transverse coordinates. The introduction of a two-dimensional description of the beams improves significantly the consistency of the results. For proton-proton interactions at √s = 8 TeV a relative precision of the luminosity calibration of 1.47% is obtained using van der Meer scans and 1.43% using beam-gas imaging, resulting in a combined precision of 1.12%. Applying the calibration to the full data set determines the luminosity with a precision of 1.16%. This represents the most precise luminosity measurement achieved so far at a bunched-beam hadron collider.

A two-dimensional (2D) position sensitive detector for neutron scattering applications based on low-pressure gas amplification and micro-strip technology was built and tested with an innovative readout electronics and data acquisition system. This detector contains a thin solid neutron converter and was developed for time- and thus wavelength-resolved neutron detection in single-event counting mode, which improves the image contrast in comparison with integrating detectors. The prototype detector of a Micro-Strip Gas Chamber (MSGC) was built with a solid ^natGd/CsI thermal neutron converter for spatial resolutions of about 100 μm and counting rates up to 10⁷ neutrons/s. For attaining very high spatial resolutions and counting rates via micro-strip readout with centre-of-gravity evaluation of the signal amplitude distributions, a fast, channel-wise, self-triggering ASIC was developed. The front-end chips (MSGCROCs), which are very first signal processing components, are read out into powerful ADC-FPGA boards for on-line data processing and thereafter via Gigabit Ethernet link into the data receiving PC. The workstation PC is controlled by a modular, high performance dedicated software suite. Such a fast and accurate system is crucial for efficient radiography/tomography, diffraction or imaging applications based on high flux thermal neutron beam.

In this paper a brief description of the detector concept with its operation principles, readout electronics requirements and design together with the signals processing stages performed in hardware and software are presented. In more detail the neutron test beam conditions and measurement results are reported. The focus of this paper is on the system integration, two dimensional spatial resolution, the time resolution of the readout system and the imaging capabilities of the overall setup. The detection efficiency of the detector prototype is estimated as well.

Hybrid pixel semiconductor detectors provide high performance through a combination of direct detection, a relatively small pixel size, fast readout and sophisticated signal processing circuitry in each pixel. For X-ray detection above 20 keV, high-Z sensor layers rather than silicon are needed to achieve high quantum efficiency, but many high-Z materials such as GaAs and CdTe often suffer from poor material properties or nonuniformities. Germanium is available in large wafers of extremely high quality, making it an appealing option for high-performance hybrid pixel X-ray detectors, but suitable technologies for finely pixelating and bump-bonding germanium have not previously been available.

A finely-pixelated germanium photodiode sensor with a 256 by 256 array of 55μm pixels has been produced. The sensor has an n-on-p structure, with 700μm thickness. Using a low-temperature indium bump process, this sensor has been bonded to the Medipix3RX photoncounting readout chip. Tests with the LAMBDA readout system have shown that the detector works successfully, with a high bond yield and higher image uniformity than comparable high-Z systems. During cooling, the system is functional around -80°C (with warmer temperatures resulting in excessive leakage current), with -100°C sufficient for good performance.

The operation of the Zero Ion Backflow electron multiplier in pure argon is presented as an alternative to the readout of ionization signals from Time Projection Chambers. The Zero Ion Backflow electron multiplier operates in a noble gas atmosphere and totally suppresses all the secondary ions produced in the electron avalanches. It is composed of a proportional scintillation gap coupled to a gaseous photon-multiplier. The ion backflow suppression of the Zero Ion Backflow electron multiplier was demonstrated to be independent of the total charge gain of the detector. This paper presents the operation of the Zero Ion Backflow electron multiplier in pure argon with a GPM composed by a THCOBRA coupled to a CsI photocathode. For a scintillation gap of 7.5 mm an optical gain close to unity and energy resolution of 35% were achieved, without deterioration of the primary ionization statistical information.

In the last few years silicon carbide (SiC) has emerged as a suitable material for the fabrication of ultraviolet light detectors due to lower leakage current, intrinsic visible blindness and mature process technology. In this paper we report on the electro-optical characteristics of continuous thin metal film Ni₂Si/4H-SiC photodiodes with very low surface epilayer doping properly designed for ultraviolet (UV) sunlight monitoring.

The most convincing candidate as main constituent of the dark matter in the Universe consists of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP). WIMPs must be electrically neutral and interact with a very low cross-section (σ < 10⁻⁴⁰ cm²) which makes them detectable in direct searches only through the observation of nuclear recoils induced by the WIMP rare scatterings. In the experiments carried out so far, recoiled nuclei are searched for as a signal over a background produced by Compton electrons and neutron scatterings. Signal found by some experiments have not been confirmed by other techniques. None of these experiments is able to detect the track, typically less than one micron long, of the recoiled nucleus and therefore none is able to directly detect the incoming direction of WIMPs. We propose an R&D program for a new experimental method able to observe the track of the scattered nucleus based on new developments in the nuclear emulsion technique: films with nanometric silver grains, expansion of emulsions and very fast completely automated scanning systems. Nuclear emulsions would act both as the WIMP target and as the tracking detector able to reconstruct the direction of the recoiled nucleus. This unique characteristic would provide a new and unambiguous signature of the presence of the dark matter in our galaxy.

We have developed a high spatial resolution, compact Positron Emission Tomography (PET) module designed for small animals and intended for use in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. This module consists of large-area, 4 × 4 ch MPPC arrays (S11830-3344MF; Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.) optically coupled with Ce-doped (Lu,Y)₂(SiO₄)O (Ce:LYSO) scintillators fabricated into 16 × 16 matrices of 0.5 × 0.5 mm² pixels. We set the temperature sensor (LM73CIMK-0; National Semiconductor Corp.) at the rear of the MPPC acceptance surface, and apply optimum voltage to maintain the gain. The eight MPPC-based PET modules and coincidence circuits were assembled into a gantry arranged in a ring 90 mm in diameter to form the MPPC-based PET system. We have developed two types PET gantry: one made of non-magnetic metal and the other made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins. The PET gantry was positioned around the RF coil of the 4.7 T MRI system. We took an image of a point }²²Na source under fast spin echo (FSE) and gradient echo (GE), in order to measure the interference between the MPPC-based PET and MRI. The spatial resolution of PET imaging in a transaxial plane of about 1 mm (FWHM) was achieved in all cases. Operating with PET made of ABS has no effect on MR images, while operating with PET made of non-magnetic metal has a significant detrimental effect on MR images. This paper describes our quantitative evaluations of PET images and MR images, and presents a more advanced version of the gantry for future MRI/DOI-PET systems.

The performance of the new position sensitive neutron detector arrays of the Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) instrument SANS2d is described. The SANS2d instrument is one of the seven instruments currently available for users on the second target station (TS2) of the ISIS spallation neutron source. Since the instrument became operational in 2009 it has used two one metre square multi-wire proportional detectors (MWPC). However, these detectors suffer from a low count rate capability, are easily damaged by excess beam and are then expensive to repair. The new detector arrays each consist of 120 individual position sensitive detector tubes, filled with 15 bar of ³He. Each of the tubes is one metre long and has a diameter of 8mm giving a detector array with an overall area of one square metre. Two such arrays have been built and installed in the SANS2d vacuum tank where they are currently taking user data. For SANS measurements operation of the detector within a vacuum is essential in order to reduce air scattering. A novel, fully engineered approach has been utilised to ensure that the high voltage connections and preamps are located inside the SANS2d vacuum tank at atmospheric pressure, within air tubes and air boxes respectively. The signal processing electronics and data acquisition system are located remotely in a counting house outside of the blockhouse. This allows easy access for maintenance purposes, without the need to remove the detectors from the vacuum tank. The design will be described in detail. A position resolution of 8mm FWHM or less has been measured along the length of the tubes. The initial measurements taken from a standard sample indicate that whilst the detector arrays themselves only represent a moderate improvement in overall detection efficiency (∼ 20%), compared to the previous detector, the count rate capability is increased by a factor of 100. A significant advantage of the new array is the ability to change a single tube in situ within approximately one day with a relatively small staff effort. The results obtained from the first user trials are reported.

The radiation hardness of Semi-Insulating (SI) GaAs detectors against high-energy electrons was investigated. The detectors were irradiated by 5 MeV electrons. The influence of two irradiation parameters, the total absorbed dose (up to 24 kGy) and the applied dose rate (20, 40 and 80 kGy/h), on their spectrometric properties was studied. An ²⁴¹Am gamma-ray source was used to evaluate the spectrometric properties. The applied dose has negatively affected the detector CCE (Charge Collection Efficiency) and has influenced also the energy resolution. Nevertheless, a global increase of detection efficiency with the dose was observed. Three different dose rates used during irradiation did not affect the CCE, but in the range of doses from 4 to 16 kGy an influence of the applied dose rate upon two other parameters was observed. With higher dose rates, a steeper increase in the detection efficiency and significant worsening of energy resolution were achieved.

In this paper, we report on the results of digital signal processing of LaBr₃(Ce) detectors. The photomultiplier (PMT) output signals from two cylindrical LaBr₃(Ce) detectors (1.5'' diameter and 2'' tall) were directly digitized with an ultrafast digitizer (sampling rate up to 4 GSample/s and 10-bits resolution) and the energy and timing information were extracted through offline analysis of the pulses. It is shown that at high sampling rates (4 GS/s) a simple integration of pulses is sufficient to reproduce the analogue energy resolution of the detectors (3.5% at 662 keV energy) and by employing a digital version of constant-fraction discrimination (CFD) timing a time resolution of 240 ps (FWHM) is achieved at the energy lines of ⁶⁰Co. The effects of pulse sampling rate were studied, indicating a degradation of the performance of the detectors with reducing the pulse sampling rate. In particular, it was found that at sampling rates below 1 GS/s, the digital timing can be limited by the aliasing error. By using an anti-aliasing filter, a time resolution of 375 ps (FWHM) and an energy resolution of 3.5% at 662 keV were achieved with a sampling rate of 500 MS/s.

The main goal of the NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS accelerator is to measure the branching fraction of the ultra-rare decay K⁺→π⁺ν with 10% accuracy. Key aspects of the detector configuration are described, with emphasis on tagging and timestamping the minority kaons in the high intensity, unseparated, charged-particle beam using KTAG, an upgraded version of a CEDAR differential Cherenkov detector. Data are presented showing that KTAG was successfully commissioned at CERN in November 2012.

Semi-insulating wafers of GaAs material with a thickness of 500μm have been compensated with chromium by Tomsk State University. Initial measurements have shown the material to have high resistivity (3 × 10⁹Ωcm) and tests with pixel detectors on a 250 μm pitch produced uniform spectroscopic performance across an 80 × 80 pixel array. At present, there is a lack of detectors that are capable of operating at high X-ray fluxes (> 10⁸ photons s^-1 mm^-2) in the energy range 5–50 keV. Under these conditions, the poor stopping power of silicon, as well as issues with radiation hardness, severely degrade the performance of traditional detectors. While high-Z materials such as CdTe and CdZnTe may have much greater stopping power, the formation of space charge within these detectors degrades detector performance. Initial measurements made with GaAs:Cr detectors suggest that many of its material properties make it suitable for these challenging conditions. In this paper the radiation hardness of the GaAs:Cr material has been measured on the B16 beam line at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron. Small pixel detectors were bonded to the STFC Hexitec ASIC and were irradiated with 3 × 10⁸ photons s^-1 mm^-2 monochromatic 12 keV X-rays up to a maximum dose of 0.6 MGy. Measurements of the spectroscopic performance before and after irradiation have been used to assess the extent of the radiation damage.

The recent research in hybrid pixel detectors working in single photon counting mode focuses on nanometer or 3D technologies which allow making pixels smaller and implementing more complex solutions in each of the pixels. Usually single pixel in readout electronics for X-ray detection comprises of charge amplifier, shaper and discriminator that allow classification of events occurring at the detector as true or false hits by comparing amplitude of the signal obtained with threshold voltage, which minimizes the influence of noise effects. However, making the pixel size smaller often causes problems with pixel to pixel uniformity and additional effects like charge sharing become more visible. To improve channel-to-channel uniformity or implement an algorithm for charge sharing effect minimization, small area trimming DACs working in each pixel independently are necessary. However, meeting the requirement of small area often results in poor linearity and even non-monotonicity. In this paper we present a novel low-area thermometer coded 6-bit DAC implemented in 40 nm CMOS technology. Monte Carlo simulations were performed on the described design proving that under all conditions designed DAC is inherently monotonic. Presented DAC was implemented in the prototype readout chip with 432 pixels working in single photon counting mode, with two trimming DACs in each pixel. Each DAC occupies the area of 8 μm × 18.5 μm. Measurements and chips' tests were performed to obtain reliable statistical results.

Neutron imaging has previously been used in order to test for cracks, degradation and water content in concrete. However, these techniques often fall short of alternative non-destructive testing methods, such as γ-ray and X-ray imaging, particularly in terms of resolution. Further, thermal neutron techniques can be compromised by the significant expense associated with thermal neutron sources of sufficient intensity to yield satisfactory results that can often precipitate the need for a reactor. Such embodiments are clearly not portable in the context of the needs of field applications. This paper summarises the results of a study to investigate the potential for transmission radiography based on fast neutrons. The objective of this study was to determine whether the presence of heterogeneities in concrete, such as reinforcement structures, could be identified on the basis of variation in transmitted fast-neutron flux. Monte-Carlo simulations have been performed and the results from these are compared to those arising from practical tests using a ²⁵²Cf source. The experimental data have been acquired using a digital pulse-shape discrimination system that enables fast neutron transmission to be studied across an array of liquid scintillators placed in close proximity to samples under test, and read out in real time. Whilst this study does not yield sufficient spatial resolution, a comparison of overall flux ratios does provide a basis for the discrimination between samples with contrasting rebar content. This approach offers the potential for non-destructive testing that gives less dose, better transportability and better accessibility than competing approaches. It is also suitable for thick samples where γ-ray and X-ray methods can be limited.

Crystalline GaN is a promising material for producing of the radiation hard particle detectors of different types capable to operate in harsh areas of particle accelerators. Moreover, GaN crystals show rather efficient luminescence properties in several spectral bands under excitation by high energy radiation. Thereby, GaN material can be employed for fabrication of a combined device which is able to operate both as scintillating and charge collecting detector. However, the efficiency of such detectors and their functionality has insufficiently been investigated. This work is addressed to study the evolution of the efficiency of photon and hadron induced luminescence. To evaluate the density of excess carriers induced by the high energy protons, a correlation between the microwave probed photoconductivity transients and the proton induced luminescence intensity has been examined using 1.6 MeV protons to produce a nearly homogeneous and rather strong excitation in 2.6 μm thick MOCVD grown GaN epi-layers. To estimate the radiation hardness of such material, the evolution of the photoconductivity transients and of the proton induced photoluminescence characteristics has been studied by in situ measurements of the changes of luminescence intensity and photoconductivity decay rate during the exposure to a proton beam reaching fluences up to 10¹⁵ cm^-2. The production rate of radiation defects, determined from in situ and post-irradiation examination of the changes of radiative and non-radiative recombination have been examined by combining penetrative hadron (nuclear reactor neutrons and 24 GeV/c protons) irradiations with those of the 1.6 MeV protons. The parameters of the efficiency κ_P of carrier pair generation by a single proton of κ_P = n_P/N_P ≅ 1.3 × 10⁷ cm^-3 per proton and κ_PA_pr = 40 carrier pairs per a micrometer of layer depth per proton have been estimated. The production rate of radiation defects is estimated to be K_P ≅ 0.6 cm^-1 for both penetrative neutrons and for 24 GeV/c protons. The hadron irradiation determines both the creation of the specific radiation defects with rate of K_P ≅ 0.6 cm^-1 and the modification of the material structure by increasing its disorder. Increase of disorder has been deduced from the observed decrease of value of the stretched-exponent index.

This work deals with the investigation of novel position-sensitive devices based on InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells, which could be applied to several applications of either synchrotron or conventional light sources. Such devices may be used as fast and efficient detectors due to the direct, low-energy band gap and high electron mobility at room temperature. Metamorphic In_0.75Ga_0.25As/In_0.75Al_0.25As quantum wells containing a two-dimensional electron gas were grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Two devices with size of 5 × 5 mm² were prepared by using optical lithography. In the first, the active layers were segmented into four electrically insulated quadrants. Indium ohmic contacts were realized on the corner of each quadrant (for readout) and on the back surface (for bias). In the second, the quantum well was left unsegmented and covered by 400 nm of Al providing a single bias electrode, while four readout electrodes were fabricated on the back side by depositing and segmenting a Ni/Ge/Au layer. Photo-generated carriers can be collected at the readout electrodes by biasing from either the QW side or the back side of the devices during beam exposure. Individual currents obtained from each electrode allow monitoring of both the position and the intensity of the impinging beam for photon energies ranging from visible to hard X-ray. Such detector prototypes were tested with synchrotron radiation. Moreover, the position of the beam can be estimated with a precision of 800 nm in the segmented QW. A lower precision of 10 μm was recorded in the unsegmented QW due to the charge diffusion through the 500-μm-thick wafer, with however a lower electronic noise due to the better uniformity of the contacts.

Electron Multiplying Charge Coupled Devices (EMCCDs) are a variant of traditional CCD technology well suited to applications that demand high speed operation in low light conditions. On-chip signal amplification allows the sensor to effectively suppress the noise introduced by readout electronics, permitting sub-electron read noise at MHz pixel rates. The devices have been the subject of many detailed studies concerning their operation, however there has not been a study into the transfer and multiplication process within the EMCCD gain register. Such an investigation has the potential to explain certain observed performance characteristics, as well as inform further optimisations to their operation. In this study, the results from simulation of charge transfer within an EMCCD gain register element are discussed with a specific focus on the implications for serial charge transfer efficiency (CTE). The effects of operating voltage and readout speed are explored in context with typical operating conditions. It is shown that during transfer, a small portion of signal charge may become trapped at the semiconductor-insulator interface that could act to degrade the serial CTE in certain operating conditions.

The LHCb experiment is set for a significant upgrade, which will be ready for Run 3 of the LHC in 2020. This upgrade will allow LHCb to run at a significantly higher instantaneous luminosity and collect an integrated luminosity of 50fb⁻¹ by the end of Run 4. In this process the Vertex Locator (VELO) detector will be upgraded to a pixel-based silicon detector. The upgraded VELO will improve upon the current detector by being closer to the beams and having lower material modules with microchannel cooling and a thinner RF-foil. Simulations have shown that it will maintain its excellent performance, even after the radiation damage caused by collecting an integrated luminosity of 50fb⁻¹.

Large area mapping of inorganic material in biological samples has suffered severely from prohibitively long acquisition times. With the advent of new detector technology we can now generate statistically relevant information for studying cell populations, inter-variability and bioinorganic chemistry in large specimen. We have been implementing ultrafast synchrotron-based XRF mapping afforded by the MAIA detector for large area mapping of biological material. For example, a 2.5 million pixel map can be acquired in 3 hours, compared to a typical synchrotron XRF set-up needing over 1 month of uninterrupted beamtime. Of particular focus to us is the fate of metals and nanoparticles in cells, 3D tissue models and animal tissues. The large area scanning has for the first time provided statistically significant information on sufficiently large numbers of cells to provide data on intercellular variability in uptake of nanoparticles. Techniques such as flow cytometry generally require analysis of thousands of cells for statistically meaningful comparison, due to the large degree of variability. Large area XRF now gives comparable information in a quantifiable manner. Furthermore, we can now image localised deposition of nanoparticles in tissues that would be highly improbable to `find' by typical XRF imaging. In addition, the ultra fast nature also makes it viable to conduct 3D XRF tomography over large dimensions.

This technology avails new opportunities in biomonitoring and understanding metal and nanoparticle fate ex-vivo. Following from this is extension to molecular imaging through specific anti-body targeted nanoparticles to label specific tissues and monitor cellular process or biological consequence.

The barrel region of the ATLAS muon spectrometer is instrumented with a Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) system covering the pseudo-rapidity range |η| < 1.05 with a detector surface of almost 4000m². The RPCs, providing the first level trigger signal and the track coordinate in the non-bending plane for the candidate muons, have played a fundamental role in the physics studies carried out by ATLAS, culminated with the discovery of the Higgs boson. During the LHC Run-1 the RPC have shown excellent performance up to the maximum instantaneous luminosity of 0.7 × 10³⁴cm^-2s^-1, corresponding approximately to 70% of the design value. The detector operation in the challenging background and pileup conditions of the LHC environment are presented together with the problems encountered and their corresponding solutions. The plans for the maintenance and consolidation of the ATLAS RPC system during the current LHC shutdown, in view of the increased luminosity expected in Run-2, are also presented.

A prototype of cosmic muon scattering tomography system has been set up in Tsinghua University in Beijing. Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) is used in the system to get the muon tracks. Compared with other detectors, MRPC can not only provide the track but also the Time of Flight (ToF) between two detectors which can estimate the energy of particles. To get a more accurate track and higher efficiency of the tomography system, a new type of high time and two-dimensional spatial resolution MRPC has been developed. A series of experiments have been done to measure the efficiency, time resolution and spatial resolution. The results show that the efficiency can reach 95% and its time resolution is around 65 ps. The cluster size is around 4 and the spatial resolution can reach 200 μ m.

An on-line beam position monitoring and regular beam stability tests are of utmost importance for the Quality Assurance (QA) of the patient treatment at any particle therapy facility. The Gantry 2 at the Paul Scherrer Institute uses a strip ionization chamber for the on-line beam position verification. The design of the strip chamber placed in the beam in front of the patient allows for a small beam penumbra in order to achieve a high-quality lateral beam delivery. The position error of 1 mm in a lateral plane (plane perpendicular to the beam direction) can result in a dose inhomogeneity of more than 5%. Therefore the goal of Gantry 2 commissioning was to reach a sub-millimeter level of the reconstruction accuracy in order to bring a dose uncertainty to a level of 1%. In fact, we observed that for beams offered by Gantry 2 signal profiles in a lateral plane can be reconstructed with a precision of 0.1 mm. This is a necessary criterion to perform a reliable patient treatment. The front end electronics and the whole data processing sequence have been optimized for minimizing the dead time in between two consecutive spots to about 2 ms: the charge collection is performed in about 1 ms, read-out takes place in about 100μs while data verification and logging are completed in less than 1 ms.

The present work reports on the design and implementation of a novel portable X-ray beam diagnostics (XBPM) device. The device is transparent to the X-ray beam and provides real-time measurements of beam position, intensity, and size. The measurement principle is based on a pinhole camera which records scattered radiation from a Kapton foil which is placed in the beam path. The use of hybrid detectors (Medipix3) that feature a virtually noiseless readout system with capability of single photon detection and energy resolving power enables the diagnostics with a better resolution and higher sensitivity compared to the use of traditional indirect X-ray detection schemes.

We describe the detailed system design, which consists of a vacuum compatible focal plane sensor array, a sensor conditioning and readout board and a heterogeneous data processing unit, which also acts as a network server that handles network communications with clients. The readout protocol for the Medipix3 sensor is implemented using field programmable gate array (FPGA) logic resulting in a versatile and scalable system that is capable of performing advanced functions such as data compression techniques and feature extraction. For the system performance measurements, we equipped the instrument with a single Medipix3 die, bump bonded to a Si sensor, rather than four for which it was designed. Without data compression, it is capable of acquiring magnified images and profiles of synchrotron X-ray beams at a transfer rate through Ethernet of 27 frames/s for one Medipix3 die.

The CMS collaboration considers upgrading the muon forward region with Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) chambers, which are able to handle the extreme particle rates expected in this region along with a high spatial resolution. This allows to combine tracking and triggering capabilities, resulting in a lower trigger threshold along with improved muon identification and track reconstruction. In the last year the GEM project took a major leap forward by integrating triple-GEM chambers in the official CMS software, allowing physics studies to be carried out. Several benchmark analyses have been studied for the impact of such detector upgrade on the physics performance. In this contribution the status of the CMS upgrade project with the usage of GEM detector will be reviewed, discussing the trigger, the muon reconstruction performance, and the impact on the physics analyses.

The Pixel Detector of the ATLAS experiment has shown excellent performance during the whole Run 1 of the LHC. Taking advantage of the long shutdown, the detector was extracted from the experiment and brought to surface in order to equip it with new service quarter panels, to repair modules, and to ease installation of the Insertable B-Layer (IBL). The IBL is the fourth layer of the Run 2 Pixel Detector, and it was installed at a radius of 3.3 cm in May 2014 between the existing Pixel Detector and the new smaller-radius beam pipe. To cope with the high radiation and pixel occupancy due to the proximity to the interaction point, a new read-out chip and two different silicon sensor technologies (planar and 3D) have been developed. Furthermore, the physics performance is expected to improve through the reduction of pixel size. As well, targeting for a low material budget, a new mechanical support using lightweight staves and a CO₂ based cooling system were adopted. An overview of the IBL project as well as the experience in its construction is presented, focusing on adopted technologies, module and staves production, qualification of assembly procedure, integration of staves around the beam pipe, and commissioning of the detector.

The KM3Net neutrino telescope will be composed of many optical modules, each of them containing 31 (3") photomultipliers, connected to a Central Logic Board. The Central Logic Board integrates Time to Digital Converters that measure Time over Threshold of the photomultipliers signals while White Rabbit is used for the optical modules time synchronization. Auxiliary boards have also been designed and built in order to test and extend the performance of the Central Logic Board. The Central Logic Board, as well as the auxiliary boards, will be presented by focusing on the design consideration, prototyping issues and tests.

We report on the measurement of drift properties of electrons and holes in a CdTe diode grown by the travelling heating method (THM). Mobility and lifetime of both charge carriers has been measured independently at room temperature and fixed bias voltage using charge integration readout electronics. Both electrode sides of the detector have been exposed to a ²⁴¹Am source in order to obtain events with full contributions of either electrons or holes. The drift time has been measured to obtain the mobility for each charge carrier. The Hecht equation has been employed to evaluate the lifetime. The measured values for μτ_e/h (mobility-lifetime product) are in agreement with earlier published data.

After the Japanese nuclear disaster in 2011, large amounts of radioactive isotopes were released and still remain a serious problem in Japan. Consequently, various gamma cameras are being developed to help identify radiation hotspots and ensure effective decontamination operation. The Compton camera utilizes the kinematics of Compton scattering to contract images without using a mechanical collimator, and features a wide field of view. For instance, we have developed a novel Compton camera that features a small size (13 × 14 × 15 cm³) and light weight (1.9 kg), but which also achieves high sensitivity thanks to Ce:GAGG scintillators optically coupled wiith MPPC arrays. By definition, in such a Compton camera, gamma rays are expected to scatter in the ``scatterer'' and then be fully absorbed in the ``absorber'' (in what is called a forward-scattered event). However, high energy gamma rays often interact with the detector in the opposite direction - initially scattered in the absorber and then absorbed in the scatterer - in what is called a ``back-scattered'' event. Any contamination of such back-scattered events is known to substantially degrade the quality of gamma-ray images, but determining the order of gamma-ray interaction based solely on energy deposits in the scatterer and absorber is quite difficult. For this reason, we propose a novel yet simple Compton camera design that includes a rear-panel shield (a few mm thick) consisting of W or Pb located just behind the scatterer. Since the energy of scattered gamma rays in back-scattered events is much lower than that in forward-scattered events, we can effectively discriminate and reduce back-scattered events to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in the images. This paper presents our detailed optimization of the rear-panel shield using Geant4 simulation, and describes a demonstration test using our Compton camera.

Developed for use with triple GEM detectors, the GEM Electronic Board (GEB) forms a crucial part of the electronics readout system being developed as part of the CMS muon upgrade program. The objective of the GEB is threefold; to provide stable powering and ground for the VFAT3 front ends, to enable high-speed communication between 24 VFAT3 front ends and an optohybrid, and to shield the GEM detector from electromagnetic interference. The paper describes the concept and design of a large-size GEB in detail, highlighting the challenges in terms of design and feasibility of this deceptively difficult system component.

Silicon pixel modules employing n-in-p planar sensors with an active thickness of 200 μm, produced at CiS, and 100-200 μm thin active/slim edge sensor devices, produced at VTT in Finland have been interconnected to ATLAS FE-I3 and FE-I4 read-out chips. The thin sensors are designed for high energy physics collider experiments to ensure radiation hardness at high fluences. Moreover, the active edge technology of the VTT production maximizes the sensitive region of the assembly, allowing for a reduced overlap of the modules in the pixel layer close to the beam pipe. The CiS production includes also four chip sensors according to the module geometry planned for the outer layers of the upgraded ATLAS pixel detector to be operated at the HL-LHC. The modules have been characterized using radioactive sources in the laboratory and with high precision measurements at beam tests to investigate the hit efficiency and charge collection properties at different bias voltages and particle incidence angles. The performance of the different sensor thicknesses and edge designs are compared before and after irradiation up to a fluence of 1.4 × 10¹⁶ n_eq/cm².

The goals of future space missions such as Euclid require unprecedented positional accuracy from the responsible detector. Charge coupled devices (CCDs) can be manufactured with exceptional charge transfer properties; however the harsh radiation environment of space leads to damage within the silicon lattice, predominantly through proton collisions. The resulting lattice defects can trap charge, degrading the positional accuracy and reducing the useful operating time of a detector. Mitigation of such effects requires precise knowledge of defects and their effects on charge transfer within a CCD. We have used the technique of single-trap ``pumping'' to study two such charge trapping defects; the silicon divacancy and the carbon interstitial, in a p-channel CCD. We show this technique can be used to give accurate information about trap parameters required for radiation damage models and correction algorithms. We also discuss some unexpected results from studying defects in this way.

The Voxel Imaging PET (VIP) Pathfinder project intends to show the advantages of using pixelated semiconductor technology for nuclear medicine applications to achieve an improved image reconstruction without efficiency loss. It proposes designs for Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) and Compton gamma camera detectors with a large number of signal channels (of the order of 10⁶). The design is based on the use of a pixelated CdTe Schottky detector to have optimal energy and spatial resolution. An individual read-out channel is dedicated for each detector voxel of size 1 × 1 × 2 mm³ using an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which the VIP project has designed, developed and is currently evaluating experimentally.

The behaviour of the signal charge carriers in CdTe should be well understood because it has an impact on the performance of the readout channels. For this purpose the Finite Element Method (FEM) Multiphysics COMSOL software package has been used to simulate the behaviour of signal charge carriers in CdTe and extract values for the expected charge sharing depending on the impact point and bias voltage. The results on charge sharing obtained with COMSOL are combined with GAMOS, a Geant based particle tracking Monte Carlo software package, to get a full evaluation of the amount of charge sharing in pixelated CdTe for different gamma impact points.

Many X-ray experiments at third-generation synchrotrons benefit from using single-photon-counting detectors, due to their high signal-to-noise ratio and potential for high-speed measurements. LAMBDA (Large Area Medipix3-Based Detector Array) is a pixel detector system based on the Medipix3 readout chip. It combines the features of Medipix3, such as a small pixel size of 55 μm and flexible functionality, with a large tileable module design consisting of 12 chips (1536 × 512 pixels) and a high-speed readout system capable of running at 2000 frames per second.

To enable high-speed experiments with hard X-rays, the LAMBDA system has been combined with different high-Z sensor materials. Room-temperature systems using GaAs and CdTe systems have been produced and tested with X-ray tubes and at synchrotron beamlines. Both detector materials show nonuniformities in their raw image response, but the pixel yield is high and the uniformity can be improved by flat-field correction, particularly in the case of GaAs. High-frame-rate experiments show that useful information can be gained on millisecond timescales in synchrotron experiments with these sensors.

Recent progress in active-edge technology of silicon sensors enables the development of large-area tiled silicon pixel detectors with small dead space between modules by utilizing edgeless sensors. Such technology has been proven in successful productions of ATLAS and Medipix-based silicon pixel sensors by a few foundries. However, the drawbacks of edgeless sensors are poor radiation hardness for ionizing radiation and non-uniform charge collection by edge pixels. In this work, the radiation hardness of edgeless sensors with different polarities has been investigated using Synopsys TCAD with X-ray radiation-damage parameters implemented. Results show that if no conventional guard ring is present, none of the current designs are able to achieve a high breakdown voltage (typically < 30 V) after irradiation to a dose of ∼ 10 MGy. In addition, a charge-collection model has been developed and was used to calculate the charges collected by the edge pixels of edgeless sensors when illuminated with X-rays. The model takes into account the electric field distribution inside the pixel sensor, the absorption of X-rays, drift and diffusion of electrons and holes, charge sharing effects, and threshold settings in ASICs. It is found that the non-uniform charge collection of edge pixels is caused by the strong bending of the electric field and the non-uniformity depends on bias voltage, sensor thickness and distance from active edge to the last pixel (``edge space"). In particular, the last few pixels close to the active edge of the sensor are not sensitive to low-energy X-rays ( < 10 keV), especially for sensors with thicker Si and smaller edge space. The results from the model calculation have been compared to measurements and good agreement was obtained. The model can be used to optimize the edge design. From the edge optimization, it is found that in order to guarantee the sensitivity of the last few pixels to low-energy X-rays, the edge space should be kept at least 50% of the sensor thickness.

Epitaxial GaAs material shows a great potential in X-ray spectroscopy and radiography applications due to its high absorption efficiency and low defect density. Fabrication of pixel radiation detectors from high-purtity epitaxial GaAs has been developed further. The process is based on mesa etching for pixellisation and sputtering for metallization. The leakage currents of processed pad detectors are below 10 nA/cm² at a reverse bias of 100 V and decrease exponentially with the temperature. Measurement with transient current technique (TCT) shows that electrons have a trapping time of 8 ns. Good spectroscopic result were obtained from both a pad detector and a hybridized Medipix GaAs detector.

The ALICE Collaboration is preparing a major upgrade of the current detector, planned for installation during the second long LHC shutdown in the years 2018-19, in order to enhance its low-momentum vertexing and tracking capability, and exploit the planned increase of the LHC luminosity with Pb beams. One of the cornerstones of the ALICE upgrade strategy is to replace the current Inner Tracking System in its entirety with a new, high resolution, low-material ITS detector. The new ITS will consist of seven concentric layers equipped with Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) implemented using the 0.18 μm CMOS technology of TowerJazz. In this contribution, the main key features of the ITS upgrade will be illustrated with emphasis on the functionality of the pixel chip. The ongoing developments on the readout architectures, which have been implemented in several fabricated prototypes, will be discussed. The operational features of these prototypes as well as the results of the characterisation tests before and after irradiation will also be presented.

The ABC 130 chip developed for the high luminosity LHC(HL-LHC) upgrade of the ATLAS silicon strip tracker implements a Fast Cluster Finder (FCF). The FCF is capable of reading out certain track cluster information serially with a clock rate up to 640 MHz, sufficient to output the location within the 40 MHz collision frequency. An external correlator circuit can be used to find the position coincidence of clusters at two adjacent layers of silicon sensor. The coincidence offset is related to the transverse momentum of the track, and therefore it provides information which may contribute to a Level-1 trigger decision. These circuit elements have been implemented in a sensor doublet configuration coupled to an FPGA which executes the correlator algorithm. Design and test results of this system are presented.

The CMS Muon System is based on three types of gaseous detectors, Resistive Plate Chambers, Cathode Strip Chambers and Drift Tubes.

While operating very well in the present conditions, upgrades are foreseen for each of the subsystems, necessary to cope with the increased Pile-Up, coming along with higher rates and radiation, during the upcoming periods of data taking.

Moreover, an important issue will be to make the system able to perform its delicate task of muon triggering and tracking also in the High Luminosity phase of LHC, foreseen to start after Long Shutdown 3 in 2023 and to last for about 10 years.

Studies devoted to asses the system performance stability for the future will be presented. In addition, the strategy - which is being developed - to complement the existing system with new detectors, based on Gas Electron Multipliers or improved RPC technologies, will be shown.

The development of compact low profile gamma-ray detectors has allowed the production of small field of view, hand held imaging devices for use at the patient bedside and in operating theatres. The combination of an optical and a gamma camera, in a co-aligned configuration, offers high spatial resolution multi-modal imaging giving a superimposed scintigraphic and optical image. This innovative introduction of hybrid imaging offers new possibilities for assisting surgeons in localising the site of uptake in procedures such as sentinel node detection. Recent improvements to the camera system along with results of phantom and clinical imaging are reported.

In pixelated silicon radiation detectors that are utilized for the detection of UV, visible, and in particular Near Infra-Red (NIR) light it is desirable to utilize a relatively thick fully depleted Back-Side Illuminated (BSI) detector design providing 100% Fill Factor (FF), low Cross-Talk (CT), and high Quantum Efficiency (QE).

The optimal thickness of such detectors is typically less than 300μm and above 40μm and thus it is more or less mandatory to thin the detector wafer from the backside after the front side of the detector has been processed and before a conductive layer is formed on the backside. A TAIKO thinning process is optimal for such a thickness range since neither a support substrate on the front side nor lithographic steps on the backside are required. The conductive backside layer should, however, be homogenous throughout the wafer and it should be biased from the front side of the detector.

In order to provide good QE for blue and UV light the conductive backside layer should be of opposite doping type than the substrate. The problem with a homogeneous backside layer being of opposite doping type than the substrate is that a lot of leakage current is typically generated at the sawed chip edges, which may increase the dark noise and the power consumption. These problems are substantially mitigated with a proposed detector edge arrangement which 2D simulation results are presented in this paper.

The output from a hybrid pixel detector depends on the interaction of the radiation with the sensor material, the transport of the resulting charge in the sensor, the pulse processing in the readout circuit and processing of the resulting signal. In order to understand the full behaviour of the device and to predict the performance of future devices it is important to have a framework that can simulate the entire process in the detector system.

Geant4 is a Monte Carlo based toolkit for simulation of particle interaction with matter which is developed and actively used for CERN experiments and detector development [1]. By extending the Monte Carlo code in Geant4 with a charge carrier transport model of the sensor material and basic amplifier functionality as well as read out logic, a simulation of the complete detector system is possible.

The MEDIPIX is a state of the art hybrid pixel detector that allows bonding of a wide range of sensor materials [2,3]. Simulation models have been developed and tested for different chips from the MEDIPIX family. The simulation is defined using configuration files to set the geometry, sensor material properties, number of pixels, pixel pitch and chip properties. Source properties as well as filters and objects in the beam can be added for different experimental set-ups. The interaction of radiation with the sensor is taken into account in the transport of the charge carriers in the sensor material and a current induced in the pixel electrode that triggers an amplifier response. Simulation results have been verified with X-ray fluorescence and radioactive sources using MEDIPIX family chips. In this paper we present the developed simulation framework and first results.

The TwinMic spectromicroscope at Elettra is a multipurpose experimental station for full-field and scanning imaging modes and simultaneous acquisition of X-ray fluorescence. The actual LEXRF detection setup consists of eight single-cell Silicon Drift Detectors (SDD) in an annular configuration. Although they provide good performances in terms of both energy resolution and low-energy photon detection efficiency, they cover just about 4% of the whole photoemission solid angle. This is the main limitation of the present detection system, since large part of the emitted photons is lost and consequently a high acquisition time is required. In order to increase the solid angle, a new LEXRF detection system is being developed within a large collaboration of several institutes. The system, composed of 4 trapezoidal multi-cell silicon drift detectors, covers up to 40% of the photoemission hemisphere, so that this geometry provides a 10 times improvement over the present configuration. First measurements in the laboratory and on the TwinMic beamline have been performed in order to characterize a single trapezoidal detector, configured and controlled by means of two multichannel ASICs, which provide preamplification, shaping and peak-stretching, connected to acquisition electronics based on fast ADCs and FPGA and working under vacuum.

The muon spectrometer of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is equipped with a redundant system made of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) and Drift Tube (DT) chambers in the barrel, RPC and Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) in the endcap region. In this paper, the operations and the performance of the RPC system during the first three years of LHC activity are presented. The stability of the RPC performance, in terms of efficiency, cluster size and noise, is also reported. Finally, the radiation background levels on the RPC system have been measured as a function of the LHC luminosity. Extrapolations to the High Luminosity LHC conditions are also discussed.

We present a detector system with a microchannel plate based photomultiplier tube (MCP-PMT) and its application for fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) in visible light. A capacity coupled imaging technique (charge image) combined with a charge division anode is employed for the positional readout. Using an artificial neural network's (ANN) computation model we are able to reconstruct the position of the incident photon as precise as 20 microns over the detector active area of 25 mm diameter. Thus, the resulting image quality corresponds roughly to a megapixel conventional CCD camera. Importantly, it is feasible to reach such resolution using only 9 charge acquisition channels supporting the anode structure of 14 interconnected readout electrodes. Additionally, the system features better than 50 ps temporal resolution allowing single photon counting FLIM acquisition with a regular fluorescence wide-field microscope.

High-frame-rate X-ray pixel detectors make it possible to perform time-resolved experiments at synchrotron beamlines, and to make better use of these sources by shortening experiment times. LAMBDA is a photon-counting hybrid pixel detector based on the Medipix3 chip, designed to combine a small pixel size of 55 μm, a large tileable module design, high speed, and compatibility with ``high-Z'' sensors for hard X-ray detection. This technical paper focuses on LAMBDA's high-speed-readout functionality, which allows a frame rate of 2000 frames per second with no deadtime between successive images. This takes advantage of the Medipix3 chip's ``continuous read-write'' function and highly parallelised readout. The readout electronics serialise this data and send it back to a server PC over two 10 Gigabit Ethernet links. The server PC controls the detector and receives, processes and stores the data using software designed for the Tango control system. As a demonstration of high-speed readout of a high-Z sensor, a GaAs LAMBDA detector was used to make a high-speed X-ray video of a computer fan.

Compton scattering is one of the main causes of image degradation in X-ray imaging. This is particularly noticeable in mammography where details of interest feature low contrast in comparison to the surrounding tissue. This work shows the feasibility of obtaining scatter-free images by using a quasi-monochromatic X-ray beam and a pixellated spectroscopic detector. This work presents characterisation of the imaging system and quantitative imaging data of a low contrast test object. An improvement in contrast by 8% was observed compared to images obtained including scattered radiation. Comparison with a conventional setup showed an increase in the image quality factor when scatter has been removed.

A new fast track reconstruction algorithm developed for the high track multiplicity environment of the Mu3e experiment where track uncertainties are dominated by multiple scattering is presented.

The goal of the Mu3e experiment is to search for the LFV decay μ⁺ → e⁺e⁻e⁺. To reach the sensitivity of 10^-16 the experiment will be performed at a future high intensity beam line (HiMB) at the Paul-Scherrer Institute (Switzerland) providing more than 10⁹ muons per second. Muons with a momentum of about 28 MeV/c are stopped on a target. Their decay at rest, in which mainly low momentum electrons with energies below 53 MeV are produced, is measured by the Mu3e tracking detector consisting of four cylindrical layers of thin silicon pixel sensors. The high granularity of the pixel detector with a pixel size of 80 × 80 μm² allows for precise track reconstruction in the high occupancy environment of the Mu3e experiment reaching up to 100 tracks per readout frame of 50 ns. These tracks will be reconstructed online using a trigger-less readout scheme. The implementation of a fast 3-dimensional multiple scattering fit based on hit triplets, where spatial uncertainties are ignored, is described and performance results in the context of Mu3e experiment are presented. Also the implementation on Graphics Processor Units (GPUs) for fast online reconstruction is discussed.

We present a set of links based on data-transmission IP in 130nm designed for rapid integration into ASIC designs. These links are designed for use in very high radiation environments as occur in high energy physics experiments. The designs are additionally low power and small area, easing integration with other electronic systems. These links are well suited to use in tracking detectors. Trackers, due to their close proximity to the collision, are subject to very high levels of radiation, and hence require such radiation hardened electronics. The portfolio of radiation hardened data transmission blocks consists of a 1Gbps serializer/deserializer with a very low power consumption ^~1mW for each. A differential transmitter and differential receiver rated at 3GHz, both designed to be much faster than needed, as insurance against radiation damage. Finally, the impact of a prototype low-latency, low-power ( < 60mW total link power) 5Gbps link is considered. Case analysis of the impacts of using lower powered, higher speed blocks in hypothetical trackers is studied, showing power improvements relative to alternative technologies.

During the scheduled high luminosity upgrade of LHC, the world's largest particle physics accelerator at CERN, the position sensitive silicon detectors installed in the vertex and tracking part of the CMS experiment will face a more intense radiation environment than the present system was designed for. Thus, to upgrade the tracker to the required performance level, comprehensive measurements and simulation studies have already been carried out.

Essential information of the performance of an irradiated silicon detector is obtained by monitoring its charge collection efficiency (CCE). From the evolution of CCE with fluence, it is possible to directly observe the effect of the radiation induced defects on the ability of the detector to collect charge carriers generated by traversing minimum ionizing particles (MIPs).

In this paper the numerically simulated CCE and CCE loss between the strips of irradiated silicon strip detectors are presented. The simulations based on the Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD framework were performed before and after irradiation for fluences up to 1.5 × 10¹⁵n_eqcm⁻² for n-on-p sensors. A two level defect model and non-uniform three level defect model were applied for the proton irradiation simulations, and a two level model for neutrons. The results are presented together with the measurements of strip detectors irradiated by different particles and fluences and show considerable agreement for both CCE and its position dependency.

This paper reports on the activity of the INFN PRIMA/RDH collaboration in the development of proton Computed Tomography (pCT) systems based on single proton tracking and residual energy measurement. The systems are made of a silicon microstrip tracker and a YAG:Ce crystal calorimeter to measure single protons trajectory and residual energy, respectively.

A first prototype of pCT scanner, with an active area of about 5 × 5 cm² and a data rate capability of 10 kHz, has been constructed and characterized with 62 MeV protons at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud in Catania (Italy) and with 180 MeV protons at The Svedberg Laboratory (TSL) in Uppsala (Sweden). Results of these measurements, including tomographic reconstructions of test phantoms, will be shown and discussed.

An upgraded system with an extended field of view (up to ∼ 5 × 20 cm²) and an increased event rate capability up to one MHz, presently under development, will be also described.

The performance of the position sensitive neutron detector array of the WISH diffractometer is discussed. WISH (Wide angle In a Single Histogram) is one of the seven instruments currently available for users on the second target station (TS2) of the ISIS spallation neutron source, and is used mainly for magnetic studies of materials. WISH is instrumented with an array of 10 detector panels, covering an angular range of 320^o, orientated in two semi-cylindrical annuli around a central sample position at a radius of 2.2m. In total the 10 detector panels are composed of 1520 ³He based position sensitive detector tubes. Each tube has an active length of one metre, a diameter of 8mm and is filled with ³He at 15 bar. The specification for the WISH detectors included a neutron detection efficiency of 50% at a neutron wavelength of 1Å with good gamma rejection. A position resolution better than 8 mm FWHM along the length of the tubes was also required which has been met experimentally. Results obtained from the detector arrays showing pulse height and positional information both prior to and post installation are shown. The first 5 of the 10 detector panels have been operational since 2009, and comparable diffraction data from powder and single crystal samples taken from the remaining 5 panels (installation completed in 2013) shows that we have a detector array with a highly stable performance which is easily assembled and maintained. Finally some real user data is shown, highlighting the excellent quality of data attainable with this instrument.

Proportional counters filled with tissue equivalent gas mixtures (TEPC) can be used to simulate interactions and energy transferred to small tissue volumes. One criteria which allows to use TEPC as the dose meter is that the particle ranges are larger compared to the gas volume. TEPC achieve this by operating at low gas pressures. Single ionization events dominate the distribution of low-LET radiation at low gas pressure and therefore their detection is of primary importance, a high gas gain is necessary. Therefore gas gain factor has been measured for Methane- and Propane-based tissue equivalent gas mixtures. The highest stable gas gains, second ionization Townsend coefficient and electron avalanche dimensions have been determined.

In this paper we present the design and performance of a perforated thermal neutron silicon detector with a ⁶LiF neutron converter. This device was manufactured within the REWARD project workplace whose aim is to develop and enhance technologies for the detection of nuclear and radiological materials. The sensor perforated structure results in a higher efficiency than that obtained with an equivalent planar sensor. The detectors were tested in a thermal neutron beam at the nuclear reactor at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon and the intrinsic detection efficiency for thermal neutrons and the gamma sensitivity were obtained. The Geant4 Monte Carlo code was used to simulate the experimental conditions, i.e. thermal neutron beam and the whole detector geometry. An intrinsic thermal neutron detection efficiency of 8.6%±0.4% with a discrimination setting of 450 keV was measured.

At the heart of the Belle II experiment at KEK (Japan), there will be a Vertex Detector (VXD) composed of 2 layers of DEPFET pixels (PXD) and 4 layers of double-sided silicon strip detectors (SVD). The latter use the APV25 front-end chip — originally developed for CMS — which is reading out the inner part of the SVD sensors through the Origami chip-on-sensor concept, including a state-of-the-art two-phase CO₂ cooling. The whole system (including the full DAQ chain) was successfully tested in a beam at DESY in January 2014 and first results are presented here.

Silicon has long been the material of choice for detectors for many applications, from space astronomy to synchrotron research. When operating in space, or within a synchrotron or other accelerator, the detector can be subjected to a harsh radiation environment. The presence of these high energy electrons, protons and gammas can lead to radiation-induced damage within the silicon lattice of the detector, creating further defects or ``traps'' in addition to any defects intrinsic to the lattice.

Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) have been used for many years to populate the focal planes of space telescopes, with recent examples ranging from the Hubble Space Telescope to the more recently launched ESA Gaia mission. The radiation environment in such missions is often dominated by high-energy protons, and leads to traps which act to capture electrons from signal charge packets as they are transferred through the device. Any captured electrons are then released later in time, with this time determined by the emission time constant of the trap species in question. The repeated capture and release of signal as it is transferred through the CCD produces a ``smearing'' effect, resulting in a change in shape of the objects imaged. This change in shape is not only undesirable, but has particular importance to future applications such as the ESA Euclid mission, in which the subtle shape changes due to weak gravitational lensing are to be measured.

In order to correct for any radiation damage present in a CCD, one must be able to produce a model that accurately represents the transfer of charge through a device containing such traps. While current models are often based on fits to observed data, it is now highly desirable to be able to actively predict the effects of any radiation on the device through a deeper understanding of the defects present in the lattice, at a sub-pixel, single-trap level. However, currently our understanding of defects within silicon has been based largely on techniques which analyse the average properties of many traps, often over several trap species.

Here is presented a selection of methods, both experimental and simulated, that can be used to begin to study populations of lattice defects down to individual defects themselves. These studies have enabled the investigation of not only the defect densities and the device-averaged trap parameters, but also the properties of individual lattice defects in the device, en route to actively predicting the impact of the radiation environment before launch.

LOFT (the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing), is a mission concept that was considered by ESA as a candidate for an M3 mission and has been studied during an extended > 2-years long assessment phase.

The mission was specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black holes and neutron stars. The LOFT scientific payload is composed of a Large Area Detector (LAD) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The LAD is a 10 m²-class pointed instrument with ∼ 15 times the collecting area of the largest past timing missions (as the Rossi XTE) over the 2-30 keV range (30-80 keV expanded), combined with CCD-class spectral resolution, which holds the capability to revolutionise studies of X-ray variability down to the millisecond time scales.

Its ground-breaking characteristic is a mass per unit surface in the range of ∼ 10 kg/m², enabling an effective area of ∼ 10 m² (at 10 keV) at a reasonable weight. The development of such large but light experiment, with low mass and power per unit area, is now made possible by the recent advancements in the field of large-area silicon drift detectors and capillary-plate X-ray collimators.

Although the LOFT mission has not been down-selected for launch in the M3 ESA programme (with launch in 2022-2024), during the assessment phase most of the trade off have been closed leading to a robust and well documented design which will be re-proposed in the future ESA calls. In this paper, we will summarize the characteristics of the LAD instrument and briefly describe the status of the detectors design.

The paper shows the design of microelectronic circuits composed of an oscillator, a modulator, a transmitter and an antenna. Prototype chips were recently fabricated and tested exploiting commercial 130 nm [1] and 180 nm [2,3] CMOS technologies. Detected signals have been measured using a commercial Ultra-Wide-Band amplifier connected to custom designed filters and a digital demodulator. Preliminary results are summarized along with some waveforms of the transmitted and received signals. A digital Synchronized On-Off Keying (S-OOK) was implemented to exploit the Ultra-Wide-Band transmission. In this way, each transmitted bit is coded with a S-OOK protocol. Wireless transmission capabilities of the system have been also evaluated within a one-meter distance. The chips fit a large variety of applications like spot radiation monitoring, punctual measurements of radiation in High-Energy Physics experiments or, since they have been characterized as low-power components, readout of the system for medical applications. These latter fields are those that we are investigating for in-vivo measurements on small animals. In more detail, if we refer to electromyographic, electrocardiographic or electroencephalographic signals [4], we need to handle very small signal amplitudes, of the order of tens of μV, overwhelmed with a much higher (white) noise. In these cases the front-end of the readout circuit requires a so-called amplifier for instrumentation, here not described, to interface with metal-plate sensor's outputs such those used for electrocardiograms, to normal range of amplitude signals of the order of 1 V. We are also studying these circuits, to be also designed on a microelectronic device, without adding further details since these components are technically well known in the literature [5,6].

The main aim of this research is hence integrating all the described electronic components into a very small, low-powered, microelectronic circuit fully compatible with in-vivo applications.

The current CMS silicon pixel detector as the innermost component of the CMS experiment is performing well at LHC design luminosity, but would be subject to severe inefficiencies at LHC peak luminosities of 2 × 10³⁴ cm⁻² s⁻¹.

Therefore, an upgrade of the CMS pixel detector is planned, including a new readout chip. The chip design comprises additional on-chip buffer cells as well as high-speed data links and low-threshold comparators in the pixel cells. With these changes the upgraded pixel detector will be able to maintain or even improve the efficiency of the current detector at the increased requirements imposed by high luminosities and pile-up.

The effects of these design changes on e.g. position resolution and charge collection efficiency were studied in detail using a precision tracking telescope at the DESY test beam facilities. The high telescope track resolution enables precise studies of tracking efficiency, charge sharing and collection even within single pixel cells of the device under test.

This publication focuses on the improved performance and capabilities of the new pixel readout chip and summarizes results from test beam campaigns with both unirradiated and irradiated devices. The functionality of the chip design with its improved charge threshold, redesigned data transmission and buffering scheme has been verified.

In this paper we present an analysis of the charge division method in semiconductor nanowire Schottky diodes using an electrical model based on the SPICE simulation code. A semiconductor nanowire prototype that is simulated as an RC network and two readout electronic systems are modelled in order to understand its behaviour and to assess its application as a possible ionizing particle detector in clinical high-LET particle beams. We study the use of resistive charge division along the semiconductor nanowire to calculate the position of deposited charge generated by an ionizing particle as it crosses the nanodevice and to determine the minimal viable spatial resolution.

Our aim is to demonstrate the charge division concept in resistive semiconductor nanowire diodes, and to subsequently understand the performance of these nanodevices as radiation sensors and address the design limitations of such an application.

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