Improvement on the light yield of a high-Z inorganic scintillator GSO(Ce)

Cerium-doped gadolinium silicic dioxide crystal, GSO(Ce), is a high-Z non-hydroscopic scintillator that gives higher light yield than BGO, and can potentially replace NaI(Tl), CsI(Tl) and BGO in many applications. Its production cost, however, has been substantially higher than any of them, while its energy resolution has been worse than that of NaI(Tl) or CsI(Tl). The merit did not overcome these deficiencies except in limited applications.

We developed a low background phoswich counter (the well-type phoswich counter) for the Hard X-ray Detector of the Astro-E project based on GSO scintillator. In the developmental work, we have succeeded in improving the light yield of GSO(Ce) by 40–50%. For energies above 500 keV, a large GSO(Ce) crystal (4.5 cm×4.5φ cm) now gives energy resolution comparable to or better than the best NaI(Tl) when read out with a phototube. With a small GSO(Ce) crystal (5×5×5 mm³) and a photodiode, an energy resolution comparable to or better than the best CsI(Tl) has been obtained. With this improved performance, we find that the much higher photopeak efficiency and the shorter scintillation decay time of GSO(Ce) offsets its higher cost for many applications.

We summarize our past developmental work to decrease radioactive contamination and to increase light yield of GSO(Ce) for astronomical hard X-ray detection. Included also are measurements done after the unsuccessful launch of the Astro-E mission. The work is still continuing for the remake version of Astro-E Hard X-ray Detector.     

CdWO4 scintillator as a compact gamma ray spectrometer for planetary lander missions

The objective of this work is to develop a gamma ray spectrometer (GRS) suitable for use on planetary rover missions. The main characteristics of this detector are low weight, small volume low power and resistance to cosmic ray radiation over a long period of time. We describe a 3 cm diameter by 3 cm thick CdWO₄ cylindrical scintillator coupled to a PMT as a GRS for the energy region 0.662–7.64 MeV. Its spectral performance and efficiency are compared to that of a CsI(Tl) scintillator 2.5 cm diameter by 6 cm thick coupled to a 28 mm×28 mm PIN photodiode. The comparison is made experimentally using ¹³⁷Cs, ⁶⁰Co, 6.13 MeV gamma rays from a ¹³C(,γn)O¹⁶* source, 7.64 MeV thermal neutron capture gamma rays emitted from iron bars using a ²⁵²Cf neutron source, and natural radioactivity 1.46 MeV ⁴⁰K and 2.61 MeV ²³²Th gamma rays. We use a Monte Carlo method to calculate the total peak efficiency of these detectors and the full energy, first and second escape peak efficiencies. The experimental and calculated results agree well. We investigated the usefulness of these detectors for a GRS on a Mars lander mission. Although both detectors meet desired specifications, it was found that CdWO₄ has advantages over CsI(Tl) being a more compact detector of higher efficiency. Using a shaping amplifier of 24 ms, CdWO₄ spectrometer exhibited a 6.8% FWHM at 662 keV. At 6.13 MeV, CdWO₄ detector possesses an intrinsic total and full energy peak efficiencies of 16.7% and 6.3%, respectively. These efficiencies are nearly a factor of 1.6 and 4 greater than the corresponding efficiencies of the CsI(Tl) detector.

A proposed gamma ray spectroscopy system to be placed on a rover, consists of a central detector surrounded by a Compton suppressor shield. The central detector is a cylindrical CdWO₄ detector and the Compton suppressor shield is made of segmented CdWO₄, coupled to PIN photodiodes. The shield also prevents thermal neutron activation of the central detector.     

Performance of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter barrel module 0

The construction and performance of the barrel pre-series module 0 of the future ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter at the LHC is described. The signal reconstruction and performance of ATLAS-like electronics has been studied. The signal to noise ratio for muons has been found to be 7.11±0.07. An energy resolution of better than (sampling term) has been obtained with electron beams of up to 245 GeV. The uniformity of the response to electrons in an area of Δη×Δφ=1.2×0.075 has been measured to be better than 0.8%.     

The use of CsI(Tl) scintillators with photodiode readout in heavy ion experiments

The performance of a ΔE−E telescope consisting of transmission silicon detector and CsI(Tl) scintillators with photodiode read out investigated in 46.7 MeV/u ¹²C induced reaction. The zero-crossing technique of pulse shape analysis has been employed to identify the light charged particles (p, d, t, ) with a low energy threshold, and a detector array composed of nine elements of CsI(Tl) scintillators with photodiode readout have been developed to measure the light charged particle interferometry in intermediate energy heavy ion induced reaction.     

Study of the internal background of CsI(Tℓ) crystal detectors for dark matter search

A search for particle cold dark matter with CsI(Tℓ) crystal is being prepared at the Cheong-Pyeong underground laboratory in Korea. The background spectra of CsI(Tℓ) crystal detectors in a prototype shield were obtained. The lowest background count rate of the test sample of crystals is measured to be 64.7±5.1 counts/keV/kg/day in the energy range of 5–20 keV. Quantitative estimation of residual radioactive isotope in CsI(Tℓ) was made using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation. Analysis results show that CsI(Tℓ) crystal could be a good candidate for direct detection of WIMPs when the contamination level of cesium radioisotopes is reduced to under a few mBq/kg.     

A new hybrid photomultiplier tube as detector for scintillating crystals

In this work, we have attentively studied the performance of a new hybrid photomultiplier tube (HPMT) as detector for photons from scintillating crystals. The HPMT is equipped with a YAP window in order to improve light collection and increase measured light response from scintillating crystals. Several measurements have been performed on BGO, LSO, CsI(Tl) and NaI(Tl) planar crystals having three different surface treatments as well as on YAP : Ce and CsI(Tl) matrices. Such crystals have been coupled to two HPMTs, one equipped with a YAP window (Y-HPMT) and the other with a conventional quartz window (Q-HPMT). Measurements on crystals coupled to the Y-HPMT have shown a consistent improvement of the light response, thanks to the presence of the YAP window. Indeed, the light response measured with the Y-HPMT was on average equal to 1.5, 2.1 and 2.6 times that obtained with the Q-HPMT for planar crystals with white painted (diffusive), fine ground and polished rear surfaces, respectively. With regards to crystal matrices, we measured a light response increase of about 1.2 times.     

Light detector development for CRESST II

CRESST-II detector modules rely on the ability to actively discriminate electron recoils from nuclear recoils via simultaneous measurement of phonons and scintillation light. The scintillation light produced in each target crystal is detected via an associated calorimeter consisting of a thin silicon wafer read out by a tungsten phase transition thermometer deposited on its surface. About 1% of the energy deposited in CaWO₄ is detected as scintillation light; therefore, the sensitivity of the light detector is crucial for the discrimination of electron recoils from nuclear recoils at energies relevant for WIMP searches. We report the detector performance obtained using a thermometer geometry characterized by phonon collectors and a thin film thermal coupling to the heat sink (Fig. 1). This concept allows a high sensitivity by decoupling the area required for the collection of non-thermal phonons and the heat capacity of the sensor. With a 30×30×0.45 mm³ light detector, energy thresholds below 5 keV referred to energy deposition in CaWO₄ have been obtained. Results achieved will be presented and an overview on further possibilities of development will be given.     

Performance of an electromagnetic liquid krypton calorimeter based on a ribbon electrode tower structure

The NA48 collaboration is preparing a new experiment at CERN aiming to study CP violation in the K⁰- system with an accuracy of 2 × 10⁻⁴ in the parameter e(ε′/ε). Decays in two π⁰'s will be recorded by a quasi-homogeneous liquid krypton calorimeter. A liquid krypton calorimeter has been chosen to combine good energy, position and time resolution with precise charge calibration and long-term stability. The prototype calorimeter incorporating the final design of the electrode read-out structure is presented in this paper. An energy resolution of 3.5%/√E with a constant term smaller than 0.5% has been obtained. The time resolution was found to be better than 300 ps above 15 GeV.     

The Indiana silicon sphere 4π charged-particle detector array

A low threshold charged particle detector array for the study of fragmentation processes in light-ion-induced reactions has been constructed and successfully implemented at the IUCF and Saturne II accelerators. The array consists of 162-triple-element detector telescopes mounted in a spherical geometry and covering 74% of 4π in solid angle. Telescope elements are composed of (1) an axial-field gas ionization chamber operated with C₃F₈ gas; (2) a 0.5 mm thick passivated silicon detector, and (3) a 2.8 cm thick CsI(Tl) scintillation crystal with photodiode readout. Discrete element identification is obtained for ejectiles up to Z 16 over the dynamic range 0.7 ≤ E/A ≤ 95 MeV/nucleon. Isotopes are also distinguished for H, He, Li and Be ejectiles with 8 E/A 95 MeV. Custom-designed electronics are employed for bias supplies and linear signal processing. Data are acquired via a CAMAC/VME/Ethernet system.     

A high-granularity scintillator calorimeter readout with silicon photomultipliers

We report on the design, construction and performance of a prototype for a high-granularity tile hadronic calorimeter for a future international linear collider detector. Scintillating tiles are read out via wavelength-shifting fibers that guide the scintillation light to a novel photodetector, the silicon photomultiplier. A prototype has been tested using a positron test beam at DESY. The results are compared with a reference prototype calorimeter equipped with multichannel vacuum photomultipliers. Detector calibration, noise, linearity and stability are discussed, and the energy response in a 1–6 GeV positron beam is compared with simulations. The present results demonstrate that the silicon photomultiplier is well-suited as photodetectors in calorimeters and thus has been selected for the construction of a calorimeter prototype to operate in hadron beams.     

Results from a CsI(Tl) test calorimeter with photodiode readout between 1 and 20 GeV

Results from a test with a CsI(Tl) calorimeter will be presented. The purpose was to evaluate the use of CsI(Tl) for high resolution electromagnetic calorimetry. A resolution of about 1% has been measured between 4 and 20 GeV. A very high electron/hadron separation of > 1 : 1000 has been observed. Prospects and limitations for large scale applications will be discussed.     

A 5 in. Si(Li)/Pb sampling calorimeter telescope for observation of cosmic gamma rays in the GeV region

A 5 in. diameter Si(Li)/Pb sampling calorimeter with a depth of 28 radiation lengths (30 unit cells × 0.93 radiation lengths) has been constructed. The energy and angular resolutions of the calorimeter have been investigated using CERN SPS positron beams with energies of 10 to 147.8 GeV. The calorimeter shows good linearity over this energy region and the energy resolution is expressed well by σ_E (rms)/E = (16.9 ± 0.9)%/ √E[GeV], where E represents the incident beam energy. The angular resolution of the calorimeter for a single event is 0.3° (rms) at 80 GeV/c. The agreement between these results and Monte Carlo simulations is good.

We are showing a new design of the Si(Li)/Pb sampling calorimeter telescope (SSCT) with an angular resolution (point source localization capability) of about 0.04° (rms) for bright galactic gamma-ray sources. We believe that this telescope is a suitable detector for future observations of cosmic gamma rays in the GeV region, especially when used to search for point sources.     

Construction and performance of one- and two-dimensional large position-sensitive liquid and plastic scintillation detectors — an application to a neutron polarimeter

Large one- and two-dimensional position-sensitive neutron detectors have been developed. Their shapes are a long block and a square and their sizes are 100×10×7.5 cm³ and 100×100×10 cm³ for one- and two-dimensional detectors, respectively. Both liquid and plastic scintillators are employed as detector materials. Position resolutions are examined by using monoenergetic neutron beams with energies of 61.6 MeV. The obtained position resolutions in FWHM are 3–5 cm and 4–14 cm for one- and two-dimensional detectors, respectively. Position resolutions are poor near the corner of the two-dimensional detector irrespective of scintillator materials. Scintillation light responses have been compared with predictions of Monte Carlo calculations. Neutron polarimeters at an intermediate energy have been developed by utilizing the position sensitivity of these detectors.     

The CDF plug upgrade electromagnetic calorimeter: test beam results

The CDF Plug Upgrade calorimeter, which fully exploits the tile–fiber technique, was tested at the Fermilab meson beamline. The calorimeter was exposed to positron, positively charged pion and positive muon beams with energies in the range of 5–230 GeV. The energy resolution of the electromagnetic calorimeter to the positron beam is consistent with the design value of , where E is the energy in units of GeV and represents sum in quadrature. The non-linearity for positrons is studied in an energy range of 11–181 GeV. It is important to incorporate the response of the preshower detector, the first layer of the electromagnetic calorimeter which is readout separately, into that of the calorimeter to reduce the non-linearity to 1% or less. The energy scale is about 1.46 pC/GeV with HAMAMATSU R4125 operated typically at a gain of 2.5×10⁴. The response non-uniformity over the surface of a tower of the electromagnetic calorimeter is found to be about 2% with 57 GeV positrons. Studies of several detailed detector characteristics are also presented.     

Simulation of phoswich detectors using MCNPX and EGSNRC

The in vivo monitoring Lab at KIT uses two phoswich detectors for routine lung counting. A simplified model of one of them has been implemented in the two Monte Carlo codes EGSnrc and MCNPX. The active part of the detector consists of a crystal of NaI(Tl) and one of CsI(Tl): the energy deposited in both the crystals have been studied to consider the effect of the anticoincidence logic, present in the read-out electronics of the detectors and not yet studied with Monte Carlo simulations. Only the NaI(Tl) crystal has then been used to study the escape peaks at several energies, which are more prominent at low energies. The results from the two codes have been compared. The comparison of the codes predictions for the escape peaks has been then extended using the model of a germanium detector.     

Detection of particle unbound states using a single Gas–Si–CsI hybrid telescope

A Gas–Si–CsI hybrid detector telescope is described and its performance assessed in measuring breakup reactions leading to particle unbound states. The telescope consists of an ionisation chamber, a silicon strip detector and a CsI(Tl) scintillator-photodiode detector. The segmentation of the strip detector allows the simultaneous detection, identification and reconstruction of heavy and light ions within a single hybrid telescope. For double hits in the strip detector, crosstalk between the two active strips modifies the measured energies requiring a correction to the energy calibrations. The technique has been extended to the detection of energetic -particles from the decay of ⁸Be_gs fragments. Using two telescopes, a measurement of the ¹²C(²⁴Mg, ¹⁶O ¹²C) reaction at 170 MeV has identified final states where the ¹²C ion and -particle originate from unbound states in ¹⁶O. The sensitivity to small relative energies between the fragments makes the telescope particularly suitable for the study of near-threshold states of astrophysical interest.     

TRASMA, a detector for γ-charged particle coincidences

An apparatus for detecting light and heavy fragments, in coincidence with γ-rays is described. Its use is foreseen for studying heavy ion complete and incomplete fusion reactions at low and intermediate energy.

The ΔE-E and TOF techniques are used for charged particle identification at small angles using a combination of Si strip detectors and CsI(Tl) crystals. The γ-ray detection is performed by using a coverage of 9 clusters, each consisting of 7 BaF₂ crystals, similar to the TAPS configuration, resulting in a large solid angle and a high granularity. We report on recent results about the charged particle discrimination and the time and energy resolution for the whole detector. Initial tests were performed using ¹²C, ¹⁹F and ²⁸Si beams accelerated by the 15 MV tandem of the Laboratorio Nazionale del Sud in Catania.     

CsI(Tl)/plastic phoswich detector enhanced in low-energy gamma-ray detection

A phoswich detector composed of a thin plate CsI(Tl) scintillator and a plastic scintillator (BC-400) has been designed and evaluated in order to improve the sensitivity in the low-energy region of a large-area plastic scintillation detector. This newly designed phoswich detector can be applied to both gross gamma measurement and energy spectrometry for low-energy gamma-ray emitters. Judging by estimations of minimum detectable activity, the lower measurable energy of a large-area plastic scintillation detector can be expanded down to a few tens of keV by adding a thin plate CsI(Tl) scintillator.     

Test of a high-heat-load double-crystal diamond monochromator at the Advanced Photon Source

We have tested the first diamond double-crystal monochromator at the Advanced Photon Source (APS). The monochromator consisted of two synthetic type 1b (1 1 1) diamond plates in symmetric Bragg geometry. The single-crystal plates were 6 mm × 5 mm × 0.25 mm and 6 mm × 5 mm × 0.37 mm and showed a combination of mosaic spread/strain of the order of 2–4 arcsec over a central 1.4 mm-wide strip. The monochromator first crystal was indirectly cooled by edge contact with a water-cooled copper holder. We studied the performance of the monochromator under the high-power X-ray beam delivered by the APS undulator A. By changing the undulator gap, we varied the power incident on the first crystal and found no indication of thermal distortions or strains even at the highest incident power (200 W) and power density (108 W/mm² in normal incidence). The calculated maximum power and power density absorbed by the first crystal were 14.5 W and 2.4 W/mm², respectively. We also compared the maximum intensity delivered by this monochromator and by a silicon (1 1 1) cryogenically cooled monochromator. For energies in the range 6–10 keV, the flux through the diamond monochromator was about a factor of two less than through the silicon monochromator, in good agreement with calculations. We conclude that water-cooled diamond monochromators can handle the high-power beams from the undulator beamlines at the APS. As single-crystal diamond plates of larger size and better quality become available, the use of diamond monochromators will become a very attractive option.     

大尺寸硅酸铋晶体的原料合成、晶体生长及闪烁性能研究

以Si(OC₂H₅)₄和Bi(NO₃)₃·5H₂O作为前驱体、柠檬酸作为溶剂, 按化学计量比配料, 采用溶胶-凝胶法合成并经高温烧结制备了纯相Bi₄Si₃O₁₂多晶粉末, 每批次可合成250 g。以此为原料、<001 >取向BSO为籽晶, 在坩埚下降炉内生长了BSO晶体, 讨论了晶体的析晶行为, 获得了30 mm × 30 mm × 210 mm的高质量BSO晶体。闪烁性能测试表明, 该晶体能量分辨率为18.9%, 光输出为同等条件下CSI(T1)晶体的7.2%。