Patent · US Active

Gamma-ray detector

US8319188B2 · kind B2 · utility

21Cited by
5References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 19, 2007
Grant dateNov 27, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 16, 2028

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01T7/00
  • WIPO fieldEnvironmental technology
  • WIPO sectorChemistry

Abstract

A portable gamma-ray detector for indicating the intensity of a source of gamma-rays, the nature of the source, and the direction to the source relative to an axis of the detector. The detector comprises a plurality of scintillation bodies arranged around the pointing axis, for example four scintillation bodies in a two-by-two array and separated from each other by aluminum foil. Thus gamma-rays from different directions are shielded from different ones of the scintillation bodies by the other scintillation bodies. The scintillation bodies are coupled to respective photo-detectors and a processing circuit is configured to receive output signals from the photo-detectors and to provide an indication of the direction to a source relative to the pointing axis of the detector based on the relative output signals from the different photo-detectors. The processing circuit is further operable to determine the intensity of the source from the magnitudes of the output signals, and the nature of the source from a spectral analysis of the output signals.

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