The GECAM series of satellites utilizes LaBr_(3)(Ce),LaBr_(3)(Ce,Sr),and NaI(Tl)crystals as sensitive materials for gamma-ray detectors(GRDs).To investigate the nonlinearity in the detection of low-energy gamma rays a...The GECAM series of satellites utilizes LaBr_(3)(Ce),LaBr_(3)(Ce,Sr),and NaI(Tl)crystals as sensitive materials for gamma-ray detectors(GRDs).To investigate the nonlinearity in the detection of low-energy gamma rays and address the errors in the calibration of the E-C relationship,comprehensive tests and comparative studies of the three aforementioned crystals were conducted using Compton electrons,radioactive sources,and mono-energetic X-rays.The nonlinearity test results of the Compton electrons and X-rays demonstrated substantial differences,with all three crystals presenting a higher nonlinearity for X/-rays than for Compton electrons.Despite the LaBr_(3)(Ce)and LaBr_(3)(Ce,Sr)crystals having higher absolute light yields,they exhibited a noticeable nonlinear decrease in the light yield,especially at energies below 400 keV.The NaI(Tl)crystal demonstrated an"excess"light output in the 6-200 keV range,reaching a maximum"excess"of 9.2%at 30 keV in the X-ray testing and up to 15.5%at 14 keV during Compton electron testing,indicating a significant advantage in the detection of low-energy gamma rays.Furthermore,we explored the underlying causes of the observed nonlinearity in these crystals.This study not only elucidates the detector responses of GECAM,but also initiates a comprehensive investigation of the nonlinearity of domestically produced lanthanum bromide and sodium iodide crystals.展开更多
Lanthanum bromide(LaBr_(3))crystal has a high energy resolution and time resolution and has been used in Compton cameras(CCs)over the past few decades.However,LaBr_(3) crystal arrays are difficult to process because L...Lanthanum bromide(LaBr_(3))crystal has a high energy resolution and time resolution and has been used in Compton cameras(CCs)over the past few decades.However,LaBr_(3) crystal arrays are difficult to process because LaBr_(3) is easy to crack and break;thus,few LaBr_(3)-based CC prototypes have been built.In this study,we designed and fabricated a large-pixel LaBr_(3) CC prototype and evaluated its performance with regard to position,energy,and angular resolution.We used two 10×10 LaBr_(3) crystal arrays with a pixel size of 5 mm×5 mm,silicon photomultipliers(SiPMs),and corresponding decoding circuits to construct our prototype.Additionally,a framework based on a Voronoi diagram and a lookup table was developed for list-mode projection data acquisition.Monte Carlo(MC)simulations based on Geant4 and experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of our CC prototype.The lateral position resolution was 5 mm,and the maximum deviation in the depth direction was 2.5 and 5 mm for the scatterer and absorber,respectively.The corresponding measured energy resolu-tions were 7.65%and 8.44%,respectively,at 511 keV.The experimental results of ^(137)Cs point-like sources were consistent with the MC simulation results with regard to the spatial positions and full widths at half maximum(FWHMs).The angular resolution of the fabricated prototype was approximately 6°when a point-like ^(137)Cs source was centrally placed at a distance of 5 cm from the scatterer.We proposed and investigated a large-pixel LaBr_(3) CC for the first time and verified its feasibility for use in accurate spatial positioning of radiative sources with a high angular resolution.The proposed CC can satisfy the requirements of radiative source imaging and positioning in the nuclear industry and medical applications.展开更多
A scintillator detector consisting of a LaBr_(3)(Ce)(0.5%)scintillator,a photomultiplier tube(PMT),and an oscilloscope were used to study the neutron sensitivities of the LaBr_(3)(Ce)scintillator at the China Spallati...A scintillator detector consisting of a LaBr_(3)(Ce)(0.5%)scintillator,a photomultiplier tube(PMT),and an oscilloscope were used to study the neutron sensitivities of the LaBr_(3)(Ce)scintillator at the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)Back-n white neutron source in the double-bunch and single-bunch operation modes,respectively.Under the two operational modes,the relative neutron sensitivity curves of the LaBr_(3)(Ce)scintillator in the energy regions of 1–20 MeV and 0.5–20 MeV were obtained for the first time.In the energy range of 1–20 MeV,the two curves were nearly identical.However the relative neutron sensitivity uncertainties of the double-bunch experiment were higher than those of the single-bunch experiment.The above results indicated that the single-bunch experiment's neutron sensitivity curve has a lower minimum measurable energy than the double-bunch experiment.Above the minimum measurable energy of the double-bunch experiment,there is little difference between the measured relative neutron sensitivity curves of the single-bunch and double-bunch experiments of the LaBr_(3)(Ce)scintillator and those of other scintillators with a similar neutron response signal intensity.展开更多
In recent years,LaBr_(3)(Ce)crystals and silicon photomultipliers(SiPMs)have been increasingly used in radiation imaging.This study involved the establishment of a detector model with a monolithic LaBr_(3)(Ce)crystal ...In recent years,LaBr_(3)(Ce)crystals and silicon photomultipliers(SiPMs)have been increasingly used in radiation imaging.This study involved the establishment of a detector model with a monolithic LaBr_(3)(Ce)crystal and SiPM array forγ-radiation imaging on the GEANT4 platform.The optical process included in the detector model was defined by key parameters,such as the emission spectrum,scintillation yield,and intrinsic resolution of the LaBr_(3):5%Ce crystal,as well as the detection efficiency of the SiPM array.The response of the detector model to^(57)Co flooded field irradiation was simulated and evaluated.The radiation images generated by the detector model exhibited a compression effect that was very close to that on images acquired by the physical detector.The spatial resolution of the simulated detector closely approximates that of the physical experiment.A detector model without the optical process was also established for comparison with a detector using the optical process.Both were used in a near-field modified uniform redundant array(MURA)imaging system to acquire images of a point source and a ring source of^(57)Co at the center of the field-of-view of the imaging system.The spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio of the images that were reconstructed using the two detector models were determined and compared.Compared with the detector model without optical processes,although the images from the proposed detector model have slightly inferior signal-to-noise ratios and more artifacts,they are more consistent with the reconstructed versions of images acquired in real physical experiments.The results confirm that the detector model can be used to design aγ-radiation imaging detector and to develop an imaging algorithm that can significantly shorten the development time and reduce the cost.展开更多
Usually, there are several methods, e.g. experiment, interpolation experiment-based, analytic function, and Monte-Carlo simulation, to calculate the response functions in LaBr3（Ce） detectors. In logging applications...Usually, there are several methods, e.g. experiment, interpolation experiment-based, analytic function, and Monte-Carlo simulation, to calculate the response functions in LaBr3（Ce） detectors. In logging applications, the experiment-based methods cannot be adopted because of their limitations. Analytic function has the advantage of fast calculating speed, but it is very difficult to take into account many effects that occur in practical applications. On the contrary, Monte-Carlo simulation can deal with physical and geometric configurations very tactfully. It has a distinct advantage for calculating the functions with complex configurations in borehole. A new application of LaBr3（Ce） detector is in natural gamma-rays borehole spectrometer for uranium well logging. Calculation of response functions must consider a series of physical and geometric factors under complex logging conditions, including earth formations and its relevant parameters, different energies, material and thickness of the casings, the fluid between the two tubes, and relative position of the LaBr3（Ce） crystal to steel ingot at the front of logging tube. The present work establishes Monte-Carlo simulation models for the above-mentioned situations, and then performs calculations for main gamma-rays from natural radio-elements series. The response functions can offer experimental directions for the design of borehole detection system, and provide technique basis and basic data for spectral analysis of natural gamma-rays, and for sonrceless calibration in uranium quantitative interpretation.展开更多
A Compton camera prototype has been developed using a pixelated CZT detector with 4-by-4 pixels.Signals of the detector are read out by a VASTAT ASIC that is controlled by a self-developed DAQ board. The DAQ software ...A Compton camera prototype has been developed using a pixelated CZT detector with 4-by-4 pixels.Signals of the detector are read out by a VASTAT ASIC that is controlled by a self-developed DAQ board. The DAQ software is developed using LabVIEW, and the offline Compton imaging codes are written in C++. The prototype has been successfully calibrated, and its capabilities for source detection, spectroscopy, and Compton imaging have been demonstrated using a Cs-137 source.The angular resolution of the 662 keV line is 36° FWHM for the simple back-projection method and 9.6° FWHM for the MLEM reconstruction method. The system is ready to be extended to 11-by-11 pixels in the future, and a better imaging quality can be expected due to the better relative position resolution.展开更多
With respect to the gamma spectrum, the energy resolution improves with increase in energy. The counts of full energy peak change with energy, and this approximately complies with the Gaussian distribution. This study...With respect to the gamma spectrum, the energy resolution improves with increase in energy. The counts of full energy peak change with energy, and this approximately complies with the Gaussian distribution. This study mainly examines a method to deconvolve the LaBr_3:Ce gamma spectrum with a detector response matrix constructing algorithm based on energy resolution calibration.In the algorithm, the full width at half maximum(FWHM)of full energy peak was calculated by the cubic spline interpolation algorithm and calibrated by a square root of a quadratic function that changes with the energy. Additionally, the detector response matrix was constructed to deconvolve the gamma spectrum. Furthermore, an improved SNIP algorithm was proposed to eliminate the background. In the experiment, several independent peaks of ^(152)Eu,^(137)Cs, and ^(60)Co sources were detected by a LaBr_3:Ce scintillator that were selected to calibrate the energy resolution. The Boosted Gold algorithm was applied to deconvolve the gamma spectrum. The results showed that the peak position difference between the experiment and the deconvolution was within ± 2 channels and the relative error of peak area was approximately within 0.96–6.74%. Finally, a ^(133) Ba spectrum was deconvolved to verify the efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm in unfolding the overlapped peaks.展开更多
The small-angle neutron scattering(SANS)instrument,one of the first three instruments of the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS),is designed to probe the microscopic and mesoscopic structures of materials in the sca...The small-angle neutron scattering(SANS)instrument,one of the first three instruments of the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS),is designed to probe the microscopic and mesoscopic structures of materials in the scale range 1–100 nm.A large-area ^(3)He tube array detector has been constructed and operates at the CSNS SANS instrument since August 2018.It consists of 120 linear position-sensitive detector tubes,each 1 m in length and 8 mm in diameter,and filled with ^(3)He gas at 20 bar to obtain a high detection efficiency.The ^(3)He tubes were divided into ten modules,providing an overall area of 1000 mm×1020 mm with a high count rate capability.Because each tube is installed independently,the detector can be quickly repaired in situ by replacing damaged tubes.To reduce air scattering,the SANS detector must operate in a vacuum environment(0.1 mbar).An all-metal sealing technique was adopted to avoid high-voltage breakdown by ensuring a high-voltage connection and an electronic system working in an atmospheric environment.A position resolution of 7.8±0.1 mm(full width at maximum)is measured along the length of the tubes,with a high detection efficiency of 81±2% at 2A.Operating over the past four years,the detector appears to perform well and with a high stability,which supports the SANS instrument to finish approximately 200 user scientific programs.展开更多
A semi-length focal plane detecting system for heavy ions has been built onthe Beijing Q3D magnetic spectrometer and tested by <sup>12</sup>C+<sup>197</sup>Au,<sup>16</sup>O+<sup...A semi-length focal plane detecting system for heavy ions has been built onthe Beijing Q3D magnetic spectrometer and tested by <sup>12</sup>C+<sup>197</sup>Au,<sup>16</sup>O+<sup>150</sup>Sm,and <sup>18</sup>O-<sup>156</sup>Gd reactions.The intrinsic resolutions of position and angle were 1.1 mmand 0.8°,respectively.The resolutions of energy loss ΔE,residual energy E<sub>R</sub> and totalenergy E<sub>T</sub> obtained were 3.0%,1.4% and 0.9%.respectively,after a special method ofdata processing was adopted.The achievable mass resolution is estimated to be about1.0% after necessary corrections for some signals concerned.Discussion aboul the edgeeffect of the detectors of this type is given too.展开更多
基金This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program(Nos.2022YFB3503600 and 2021YFA0718500)Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Nos.XDA15360102)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.12273042 and 12075258).
文摘The GECAM series of satellites utilizes LaBr_(3)(Ce),LaBr_(3)(Ce,Sr),and NaI(Tl)crystals as sensitive materials for gamma-ray detectors(GRDs).To investigate the nonlinearity in the detection of low-energy gamma rays and address the errors in the calibration of the E-C relationship,comprehensive tests and comparative studies of the three aforementioned crystals were conducted using Compton electrons,radioactive sources,and mono-energetic X-rays.The nonlinearity test results of the Compton electrons and X-rays demonstrated substantial differences,with all three crystals presenting a higher nonlinearity for X/-rays than for Compton electrons.Despite the LaBr_(3)(Ce)and LaBr_(3)(Ce,Sr)crystals having higher absolute light yields,they exhibited a noticeable nonlinear decrease in the light yield,especially at energies below 400 keV.The NaI(Tl)crystal demonstrated an"excess"light output in the 6-200 keV range,reaching a maximum"excess"of 9.2%at 30 keV in the X-ray testing and up to 15.5%at 14 keV during Compton electron testing,indicating a significant advantage in the detection of low-energy gamma rays.Furthermore,we explored the underlying causes of the observed nonlinearity in these crystals.This study not only elucidates the detector responses of GECAM,but also initiates a comprehensive investigation of the nonlinearity of domestically produced lanthanum bromide and sodium iodide crystals.
文摘Lanthanum bromide(LaBr_(3))crystal has a high energy resolution and time resolution and has been used in Compton cameras(CCs)over the past few decades.However,LaBr_(3) crystal arrays are difficult to process because LaBr_(3) is easy to crack and break;thus,few LaBr_(3)-based CC prototypes have been built.In this study,we designed and fabricated a large-pixel LaBr_(3) CC prototype and evaluated its performance with regard to position,energy,and angular resolution.We used two 10×10 LaBr_(3) crystal arrays with a pixel size of 5 mm×5 mm,silicon photomultipliers(SiPMs),and corresponding decoding circuits to construct our prototype.Additionally,a framework based on a Voronoi diagram and a lookup table was developed for list-mode projection data acquisition.Monte Carlo(MC)simulations based on Geant4 and experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of our CC prototype.The lateral position resolution was 5 mm,and the maximum deviation in the depth direction was 2.5 and 5 mm for the scatterer and absorber,respectively.The corresponding measured energy resolu-tions were 7.65%and 8.44%,respectively,at 511 keV.The experimental results of ^(137)Cs point-like sources were consistent with the MC simulation results with regard to the spatial positions and full widths at half maximum(FWHMs).The angular resolution of the fabricated prototype was approximately 6°when a point-like ^(137)Cs source was centrally placed at a distance of 5 cm from the scatterer.We proposed and investigated a large-pixel LaBr_(3) CC for the first time and verified its feasibility for use in accurate spatial positioning of radiative sources with a high angular resolution.The proposed CC can satisfy the requirements of radiative source imaging and positioning in the nuclear industry and medical applications.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11905196)。
文摘A scintillator detector consisting of a LaBr_(3)(Ce)(0.5%)scintillator,a photomultiplier tube(PMT),and an oscilloscope were used to study the neutron sensitivities of the LaBr_(3)(Ce)scintillator at the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS)Back-n white neutron source in the double-bunch and single-bunch operation modes,respectively.Under the two operational modes,the relative neutron sensitivity curves of the LaBr_(3)(Ce)scintillator in the energy regions of 1–20 MeV and 0.5–20 MeV were obtained for the first time.In the energy range of 1–20 MeV,the two curves were nearly identical.However the relative neutron sensitivity uncertainties of the double-bunch experiment were higher than those of the single-bunch experiment.The above results indicated that the single-bunch experiment's neutron sensitivity curve has a lower minimum measurable energy than the double-bunch experiment.Above the minimum measurable energy of the double-bunch experiment,there is little difference between the measured relative neutron sensitivity curves of the single-bunch and double-bunch experiments of the LaBr_(3)(Ce)scintillator and those of other scintillators with a similar neutron response signal intensity.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41874121 and U19A2086)the major scientific instruments and equipment development project of the Ministry of Science and Technology,People’s Republic of China (No.2012YQ180118)+1 种基金the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No.2018JY0181)Sichuan Science and Technology Miao-zi Project(Nos. 2021JDRC0107 and 2021JDRCO068)
文摘In recent years,LaBr_(3)(Ce)crystals and silicon photomultipliers(SiPMs)have been increasingly used in radiation imaging.This study involved the establishment of a detector model with a monolithic LaBr_(3)(Ce)crystal and SiPM array forγ-radiation imaging on the GEANT4 platform.The optical process included in the detector model was defined by key parameters,such as the emission spectrum,scintillation yield,and intrinsic resolution of the LaBr_(3):5%Ce crystal,as well as the detection efficiency of the SiPM array.The response of the detector model to^(57)Co flooded field irradiation was simulated and evaluated.The radiation images generated by the detector model exhibited a compression effect that was very close to that on images acquired by the physical detector.The spatial resolution of the simulated detector closely approximates that of the physical experiment.A detector model without the optical process was also established for comparison with a detector using the optical process.Both were used in a near-field modified uniform redundant array(MURA)imaging system to acquire images of a point source and a ring source of^(57)Co at the center of the field-of-view of the imaging system.The spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio of the images that were reconstructed using the two detector models were determined and compared.Compared with the detector model without optical processes,although the images from the proposed detector model have slightly inferior signal-to-noise ratios and more artifacts,they are more consistent with the reconstructed versions of images acquired in real physical experiments.The results confirm that the detector model can be used to design aγ-radiation imaging detector and to develop an imaging algorithm that can significantly shorten the development time and reduce the cost.
基金supported by Key Laboratory of Radioactive Geology and Exploration Technology Fundamental Science for National Defense(No. 2011RGET04)East China Institute of Technology, and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41074078)
文摘Usually, there are several methods, e.g. experiment, interpolation experiment-based, analytic function, and Monte-Carlo simulation, to calculate the response functions in LaBr3（Ce） detectors. In logging applications, the experiment-based methods cannot be adopted because of their limitations. Analytic function has the advantage of fast calculating speed, but it is very difficult to take into account many effects that occur in practical applications. On the contrary, Monte-Carlo simulation can deal with physical and geometric configurations very tactfully. It has a distinct advantage for calculating the functions with complex configurations in borehole. A new application of LaBr3（Ce） detector is in natural gamma-rays borehole spectrometer for uranium well logging. Calculation of response functions must consider a series of physical and geometric factors under complex logging conditions, including earth formations and its relevant parameters, different energies, material and thickness of the casings, the fluid between the two tubes, and relative position of the LaBr3（Ce） crystal to steel ingot at the front of logging tube. The present work establishes Monte-Carlo simulation models for the above-mentioned situations, and then performs calculations for main gamma-rays from natural radio-elements series. The response functions can offer experimental directions for the design of borehole detection system, and provide technique basis and basic data for spectral analysis of natural gamma-rays, and for sonrceless calibration in uranium quantitative interpretation.
文摘A Compton camera prototype has been developed using a pixelated CZT detector with 4-by-4 pixels.Signals of the detector are read out by a VASTAT ASIC that is controlled by a self-developed DAQ board. The DAQ software is developed using LabVIEW, and the offline Compton imaging codes are written in C++. The prototype has been successfully calibrated, and its capabilities for source detection, spectroscopy, and Compton imaging have been demonstrated using a Cs-137 source.The angular resolution of the 662 keV line is 36° FWHM for the simple back-projection method and 9.6° FWHM for the MLEM reconstruction method. The system is ready to be extended to 11-by-11 pixels in the future, and a better imaging quality can be expected due to the better relative position resolution.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.41374130 and 41604154)
文摘With respect to the gamma spectrum, the energy resolution improves with increase in energy. The counts of full energy peak change with energy, and this approximately complies with the Gaussian distribution. This study mainly examines a method to deconvolve the LaBr_3:Ce gamma spectrum with a detector response matrix constructing algorithm based on energy resolution calibration.In the algorithm, the full width at half maximum(FWHM)of full energy peak was calculated by the cubic spline interpolation algorithm and calibrated by a square root of a quadratic function that changes with the energy. Additionally, the detector response matrix was constructed to deconvolve the gamma spectrum. Furthermore, an improved SNIP algorithm was proposed to eliminate the background. In the experiment, several independent peaks of ^(152)Eu,^(137)Cs, and ^(60)Co sources were detected by a LaBr_3:Ce scintillator that were selected to calibrate the energy resolution. The Boosted Gold algorithm was applied to deconvolve the gamma spectrum. The results showed that the peak position difference between the experiment and the deconvolution was within ± 2 channels and the relative error of peak area was approximately within 0.96–6.74%. Finally, a ^(133) Ba spectrum was deconvolved to verify the efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm in unfolding the overlapped peaks.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2021YFA1600703)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.12175254)+2 种基金the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CASthe China Spallation Neutron Source Projectthe Innovative Projects of the IHEP(No.E15459U210).
文摘The small-angle neutron scattering(SANS)instrument,one of the first three instruments of the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS),is designed to probe the microscopic and mesoscopic structures of materials in the scale range 1–100 nm.A large-area ^(3)He tube array detector has been constructed and operates at the CSNS SANS instrument since August 2018.It consists of 120 linear position-sensitive detector tubes,each 1 m in length and 8 mm in diameter,and filled with ^(3)He gas at 20 bar to obtain a high detection efficiency.The ^(3)He tubes were divided into ten modules,providing an overall area of 1000 mm×1020 mm with a high count rate capability.Because each tube is installed independently,the detector can be quickly repaired in situ by replacing damaged tubes.To reduce air scattering,the SANS detector must operate in a vacuum environment(0.1 mbar).An all-metal sealing technique was adopted to avoid high-voltage breakdown by ensuring a high-voltage connection and an electronic system working in an atmospheric environment.A position resolution of 7.8±0.1 mm(full width at maximum)is measured along the length of the tubes,with a high detection efficiency of 81±2% at 2A.Operating over the past four years,the detector appears to perform well and with a high stability,which supports the SANS instrument to finish approximately 200 user scientific programs.
文摘A semi-length focal plane detecting system for heavy ions has been built onthe Beijing Q3D magnetic spectrometer and tested by <sup>12</sup>C+<sup>197</sup>Au,<sup>16</sup>O+<sup>150</sup>Sm,and <sup>18</sup>O-<sup>156</sup>Gd reactions.The intrinsic resolutions of position and angle were 1.1 mmand 0.8°,respectively.The resolutions of energy loss ΔE,residual energy E<sub>R</sub> and totalenergy E<sub>T</sub> obtained were 3.0%,1.4% and 0.9%.respectively,after a special method ofdata processing was adopted.The achievable mass resolution is estimated to be about1.0% after necessary corrections for some signals concerned.Discussion aboul the edgeeffect of the detectors of this type is given too.
