J. Solc

3D measurement of the radiation distribution in a water phantom in a hadron therapy beam

Hadron therapy is a highly precise radio-therapeutic method with many advantages especially in cases when the tumour is close to sensitive organs where standard treatments cannot be used. For reliable treatment planning it is necessary to have calculation tools for maximization of the dose delivered to the targeted tissue and minimization of the dose outside of it. While the main physical processes in material irradiated by hadron beams are known, in reality the processes involved are complex so that analytical computations are impossible. Thus, the planning tools to incorporate simplified models and numerical approximations and an experimental method for high precision verification of the models within phantoms is desired. The development of sensitive, high resolution and online methods for measurement of the radiation environment inside of the irradiated object is the aim of this work. Such measurements are made possible by the resolving power of the state-of-the-art pixel detector Timepix. This quantum counting imaging device is able to record the characteristic shapes of the particle traces including their energies deposited in the detector. All these data recorded for each event allow to estimate the particle type, its energy and direction of flight. Event-by-event analysis is done using pattern recognition of the characteristic traces. The objective of the experiment is the detection and characterization of secondary radiation generated by the primary therapeutic beams in tissue equivalent material (water). Measurements were performed inside of a water phantom irradiated by a carbon beam at the Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Center (HIT).

MPX Detectors as LHC Luminosity Monitor

A network of 16 Medipix-2 (MPX) silicon pixel devices was installed in the ATLAS detector cavern at CERN. It was designed to measure the composition and spectral characteristics of the radiation field in the ATLAS experiment and its surroundings. This study demonstrates that the MPX network can also be used as a self-sufficient luminosity monitoring system. The MPX detectors collect data independently of the ATLAS data-recording chain, and thus they provide independent measurements of the bunch-integrated ATLAS/LHC luminosity. In particular, the MPX detectors located close enough to the primary interaction point are used to perform van der Meer calibration scans with high precision. Results from the luminosity monitoring are presented for 2012 data taken at √s = 8 TeV proton-proton collisions. The characteristics of the LHC luminosity reduction rate are studied and the effects of beam-beam (burn-off) and beam-gas (single bunch) interactions are evaluated. The systematic variations observed in the MPX luminosity measurements are below 0.3% for one minute intervals.

Time-of-flight measurement of fast neutrons with Timepix detectors

Timepix pixel detectors have been used to study the response of silicon hybrid pixel detectors to fast neutrons from a pulsed neutron beam at WNR FP30R, a 14 m long flight path, in the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Neutrons with kinetic energies up to 600 MeV were available. In order to enhance the conversion of neutrons to energetic charged particles, several converter foils and filters were attached to the 300 μm thick silicon sensor, i.e. polyethylene, polyethylene with aluminum, 6LiF, 6LiF with aluminum, aluminum. The Time-of-Arrival mode of the Timepix detectors has permitted the application of the Time-of-Flight (TOF) technique for the assignment of the detected interactions in the form of clusters (groups of adjacent pixels) in the pixel matrix, to the kinetic energies of the incident neutrons. It was found that, for lower neutron energies ( ~ MeV range) the cluster rates below the polyethylene and the polyethylene and aluminum region, produced by recoil protons, are a good measure for the mean kinetic energies of neutrons. For energies above 50 MeV nuclear reactions in the silicon dominate the detector response. In this energy range the shape of the clusters indicates the neutron kinetic energy.

Evaluation of the ATLAS-MPX devices for neutron field spectral composition measurement in the ATLAS experiment

A network of 15 Medipix2-based devices (ATLAS-MPX devices) has been installed at various positions in the ATLAS detector within the framework of the ATLAS-MPX collaboration. The aim of the network is to perform real-time measurement of spectral characteristics and composition of the main radiation types in the experiment including slow and fast neutrons, especially during the initial low luminosity LHC operation. This contribution describes the network structure and focuses on the neutron efficiency calibration process of the ATLAS-MPX devices and its simulation in order to predict the behavior of the device in complex neutron fields.

Wide energy range gamma-ray calibration source

Calibration source with monoenergetic gamma-ray lines in wide energy range designed for gamma-ray detector energetic calibration and testing has been built. Gamma-rays are obtained from thermal neutron capture, which is a suitable and cost efficient way how to provide discrete gamma-ray lines with energies above 3 MeV with reasonable intensity. With appropriate and interchangeable targets the source can generate different gamma-ray spectra with energy up to 10 MeV. We present the data obtained with neutron capture on chlorine, but other elements with high thermal neutron capture cross-section such as chrome, iron, nickel and titanium can be used as well. As neutron source we employ radionuclide sources (252Cf or 241Am-Be) with emission rate about 106 neutrons/s. The emitted fast neutrons are moderated by a moderator made of light materials such as graphite, standard water or heavy water. Performance of the source is demonstrated by calibration spectra measured by HPGe and scintillation detectors (LaBr3, NaI(Tl)).

Energy (TOF) and position sensitive detection of ultra cold neutrons with micrometric resolution using the TimePix pixel detector

Ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) are neutrons with very small kinetic energies (below 300 neV). The energy is so low that they are reflected from the surface of many materials under any angle of incidence. These neutrons can be thus trapped by an effective Fermi potential and stored inside material “bottles”. Recently bound quantum states of neutrons in the earth’s gravitational field have been observed with UCN. A detector with spatial resolution of around 1 μm is required to be able to resolve such individual states. Being uncharged and having very low energy, ultra-cold neutrons cannot be detected in the silicon pixel detector directly but can be converted into charged particles in a thin layer deposited onto the sensor surface.

Estimate of the neutron fields in ATLAS based on ATLAS-MPX detectors data

The ATLAS-MPX detectors are based on Medipix2 silicon devices designed by CERN for the detection of different types of radiation. These detectors are covered with converting layers of 6LiF and polyethylene (PE) to increase their sensitivity to thermal and fast neutrons, respectively. These devices allow the measurement of the composition and spectroscopic characteristics of the radiation field in ATLAS, particularly of neutrons. These detectors can operate in low or high preset energy threshold mode. The signature of particles interacting in a ATLAS-MPX detector at low threshold are clusters of adjacent pixels with different size and form depending on their type, energy and incidence angle. The classification of particles into different categories can be done using the geometrical parameters of these clusters. The Medipix analysis framework (MAFalda) — based on the ROOT application — allows the recognition of particle tracks left in ATLAS-MPX devices located at various positions in the ATLAS detector and cavern. The pattern recognition obtained from the application of MAFalda was configured to distinguish the response of neutrons from other radiation. The neutron response at low threshold is characterized by clusters of adjoining pixels (heavy tracks and heavy blobs) left by protons and heavy ions resulting from neutron interactions in the converting layers of the ATLAS-MPX devices. The neutron detection efficiency of ATLAS-MPX devices has been determined by the exposure of two detectors of reference to radionuclide sources of neutrons (252Cf and 241AmBe). With these results, an estimate of the neutrons fields produced at the devices locations during ATLAS operation was done.

Monte Carlo optimization of shielding for novel industrial free release measurement facility

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations were done for the optimization of shielding configuration of a novel industrial radionuclide-specific pre-selection free release measurement facility. The shielding is made from unique bricks of concrete with very low specific activity of natural radionuclides. The final configuration was selected as a compromise between shielding volume and the simulated 1461keV full-energy peak detector count rates of natural 40K.

Spectral fluence of neutrons generated by radiotherapeutic linacs

Spectral fluences of neutrons generated in the heads of the radiotherapeutic linacs Varian Clinac 2100 C/D and Siemens ARTISTE were measured by means of the Bonner spheres spectrometer whose active detector of thermal neutrons was replaced by an activation detector, i.e. a tablet made of pure manganese. Measurements with different collimator settings reveal an interesting dependence of neutron fluence on the area defined by the collimator jaws. The determined neutron spectral fluences were used to derive ambient dose equivalent rate along the treatment coach. To clarify at which components of the linac neutrons are mainly created, the measurements were complemented with MCNPX calculations based on a realistic model of the Varian Clinac.

Neutron sources for test and calibration of neutron detectors for space research

This work reports on the current status of neutron sources in the Czech Republic as calibrated and ESA compliant stations for space related applications such as the testing and calibration of neutron detectors and neutron sensitive devices as well as for studies of radiation effects of electric and electronic components. The work was carried out as part of the preparatory accession activities of the Czech Republic with ESA. The goal and one of the tasks is to test and evaluate neutron sensitive devices, both conventional and prototypes, developed at ESA and at the IEAP CTU Prague. The facilities consist of both fast and thermal neutron sources providing testing and absolute calibration of a wide range of neutron detectors. The evaluation and calibration of the sources were carried out in cooperation with the Nuclear Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the Research Center Rez, and the Czech Metrology Institute in Prague.