Wolfertz Alexander, Gustschin Alex, Schulz Michael, Long Alexander M, Khaplanov Anton, Hirsh Tsviki Y, Nomerotski Andrei, Morgano Manuel, Tremsin Anton, Mauri Giacomo, Sykora G Jeff, Losko Adrian
Forschungs-Neutronenquelle Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, 85748, Garching, Germany.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 16;14(1):30495. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82095-2.
A new type of position-sensitive detectors is gaining attention in the neutron community. They are scintillator based detectors that detect the scintillation light on an individual photon basis via an image intensifier and a fast image sensor. Their readout operates in event mode i.e. it produces information about individual neutron interactions, reconstructed from the sensor data, thus enabling to achieve superior spatial and temporal resolutions compared to regular detectors. Although the development of current detectors is focused on neutrons, the concept is also applicable to the detection of other particles such as high-energy photons. This document provides a description on how these detectors are built, how they operate, and what their characteristics are. An example of a detector implementation based on a Timepix3 chip is described to illustrate the detector concept. This includes a detailed description of the algorithm that reconstructs the neutron interactions from the sensor data, one of the core components that sets it apart from established scintillator-based imaging detectors. Energy-resolved epithermal neutron radiography was performed at the ISIS EMMA beamline with this detector, illustrating some of the fundamental differences in the data that can be produced with the new type of detector compared to more established types of scintillator based neutron detectors. The term LumaCam is proposed to refer to this new class of position-sensitive event-mode detectors.
一种新型的位置敏感探测器正在中子领域引起关注。它们是基于闪烁体的探测器，通过图像增强器和快速图像传感器逐个光子地检测闪烁光。其读出操作在事件模式下进行，即它产生关于从传感器数据重建的单个中子相互作用的信息，因此与常规探测器相比能够实现卓越的空间和时间分辨率。尽管当前探测器的开发集中在中子方面，但该概念也适用于其他粒子的检测，如高能光子。本文档描述了这些探测器的构建方式、工作原理及其特性。描述了基于Timepix3芯片的探测器实现示例以说明探测器概念。这包括对从传感器数据重建中子相互作用的算法的详细描述，这是使其与已有的基于闪烁体的成像探测器区分开来的核心组件之一。使用该探测器在ISIS EMMA束线进行了能量分辨超热中子射线照相，说明了与更成熟的基于闪烁体的中子探测器相比，新型探测器产生的数据中的一些基本差异。建议使用术语LumaCam来指代这类新型的位置敏感事件模式探测器。
