Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for radiation detection

US5821541A · kind A · utility

241Cited by
2References
6Claims
0Family size

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJan 15, 1997
Grant dateOct 13, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 15, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01T1/006
  • WIPO fieldEnvironmental technology
  • WIPO sectorChemistry

Abstract

A detection system is provided. In one embodiment a silicon Compton recoil electron detector uses the Compton double scatter technique with recoil electron tracking to detect medium energy gamma rays from 0.3 to 30 MeV. Two detector layers are required; a silicon microstrip hodoscope and a calorimeter. The incoming photon Compton scatters in the hodoscope. The second scatter layer is the calorimeter where the scattered gamma ray is totally absorbed. The recoil electron in the hodoscope is tracked through several detector planes until it stops. The x and y position signals from the first two planes of the electron track determine the direction of the recoil electron while the energy loss from all planes determines the energy of the recoil electron. In another embodiment of the invention, the Compton double scatter technique with recoil electron tracking is used to detect x-rays from 300 to 2,000 keV. This embodiment is useful for nondestructive, real time inspection of munition items. In another embodiment of the invention, the invention is used to provide a high sensitivity, high spatial resolution and electronically collimated single photon emission computed tomography system whic…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.