Moon is an auspicious environment for the study of Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and Solar Particle Events (SEP) due to the absence of magnetic field and atmosphere. The same characteristics raise the radiation risk for human presence in orbit around it or at the lunar surface. The secondary (albedo) radiation resulting from the interaction of the primary radiation with the lunar soil adds an extra risk factor, because neutrons are produced, but also it can be exploited to study the soil composition. In this paper, the design of a comprehensive radiation monitor package tailored to the lunar environment is presented. The detector, named LURAD, will perform spectroscopic measurements of protons, electrons, heavy ions, as well as gamma-rays, and neutrons. A microdosimetry monitor subsystem is foreseen which can provide measurements of LET(Si) spectra in a wide dynamic range of LET(Si) and flux for SPE and GCR, detection of neutrons and biological dose for radiation protection of astronauts. The LURAD design leverages on the following key enabling technologies. (a) Fully depleted Si monolithic active pixel sensors (b) Scintillators read by silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) (c) Silicon on Insulator (SOI) microdosimetry sensors. These technologies promise miniaturization and mass reduction with state-of-the-art performance. The instrument’s design is presented, and the Monte Carlo study of the feasibility of particle identification and kinetic energy determination is discussed.

The data acquisition system of a radiation monitor package for lunar mission is presented. The package enables the measurement of the flux of all the main particles present in the lunar environment as a function of their energy, as well as the measurement of dosimetric quantities. It encompasses electron gamma and proton – ion – fast neutron telescopes and a microdosimetry unit. Each telescope includes a group of scintillator-SiPM blocks and Si fully depleted monolithic active pixel sensors in high and low gain versions. A Time of Flight unit is included in the proton – ion – fast neutron telescope. Each subsystem includes a controlling FPGA which receives the digitized measurements. The instrument also contains a central unit based on the GR716 radiation hardened microcontroller which exchanges data with the FPGAs using the SPI4SPACE protocol. A higher-level application protocol was designed to transmit data from the FPGAs to the GR716. The central unit sends data to an external transponder using SpaceWire. A set up to emulate the data flow from the sensor units to the FPGAs and the GR716 microcontroller has been implemented. It receives simulated event data from a personal computer and transmits them to subsystem FPGA with realistic time distribution. It will serve the accurate determination of the computational, memory, bandwidth and power resources for different data handling strategies.

In general localization of radioactive sources or hotspots is a major issue for radiological safety of operators in nuclear facilities and in National Security. For this purpose, portable Gamma-Ray Imaging (GRI) systems allow remote localization of radioactive sources from greater distances than conventional rate meters, leading to significant reductions of the dose received by operators. The difficulty with GRI is the same difficulty with gamma ray detection. Gamma rays are quite high in energy and do not interact with matter with high efficiency. As a result large detectors are needed which are made of expensive heavy elements In addition pixelated array detectors with a lot of pixels are very expensive to be made, in contrast with the normal optical wavelength light cameras. Furthermore, gamma rays do not interact with lenses and focusing equipment, which results in a limited field of view of the gamma ray detectors. A way to go around this is to have Mechanical Collimation. In this methodology a raster scanning is used with a single detector of one pixel that is moving around. This is relatively inexpensive but the whole process is rather slow. They have been used extensively in the past but nowadays are becoming obsolete. A more advanced technique is to have pixelated arrays like code aperture devices. Nowadays, portable coded aperture gamma cameras for industrial applications are undergoing impressive developments and improvements in terms of lightness, usability, response sensitivity, angular resolution, and spectrometric capabilities. These devices are quite fast but often expensive due to the pixilated array and limited by the correct choice of the MURA type mask to detect close or large distance sources. Another methodology that is commonly used is the Compton Cameras (CC). Compton imaging is a visualization technique that uses the kinematics of Compton scattering for the reconstruction of a gamma radiation source image. They have been successfully used for detecting illicit nuclear materials, recovering orphan radioactive sources, and delimiting suspicious radiological contaminated areas. In this chapter the majority of radioactive localization methods will be covered together with state of the art devices and future prospects in this field.

Coded Aperture γ-cameras have been used for more than three decades for imaging radioactive source distributions encountered in astrophysics, in decommissioning of nuclear facilities, and in nuclear medicine. These devices enable the identification of the coordinates of γ-emitters located within their Field of View (FOV) with the use of the coded-aperture shadow projected on pixelated detectors. In this work we have developed machine learning algorithms based on Gradient Boosted Decision Trees (BDTG) and Deep Neural Networks (DNN). The algorithms have been trained using 21000 shadowgrams created with simulation. A custom fast simulation tool was used to produce the shadowgrams due to sources placed randomly at different positions within the FOV at distances from 20 cm up to 20 m from the detector plane. The performance of the algorithms has been evaluated with the aid of a different independent simulation sample of shadowgrams and verified with real data.

The Miniaturized Detector for Application in Space (MIDAS) is a compact device with dimensions 5 x 5 x 1 cm 3 which combines position sensitive Si detectors and a fast neutrons spectrometer. MIDAS is developed with purpose to act as a linear energy transfer (LET) spectrometer for the charged particles and measure dose and dose equivalent from both charged particles and neutrons. It is based on fully depleted monolithic active Si pixel sensors for the charged track and energy deposition measurements, while a plastic scintillator read out by a silicon photomultiplier is used to determine energy depositions from fast neutrons. A simulation study of the detector response in galactic cosmic ray (GCR) radiation fields with the aid of GEANT4 has been performed. Energy depositions and hit pixel addresses have been used to reconstruct tracks and calculate LET spectra. A method to calculate in water from the measured LET has been elaborated. Dose rate in water and dose equivalent rate have been calculated. The energy and particle composition of the radiation field produced by the interaction of GCR with the Al walls of a spacecraft model has been determined and the response of MIDAS in this radiation field has been investigated.

We present a small form factor (0.5 cm3) static CdZnTe (CZT) sensor network consisted of a number of Non Directional Detectors (NDD) capable to localize a stationary radiation source in 3D. The localization is performed with fusion algorithms based on AI techniques. The algorithms are based on Multilayer Perseptron Neural Network (MLP) and Gradient Boosted Decision Trees (BDTG). A data driven method based on experimental data was used to produce the events for both training and testing of the algorithms. The localization efficiency of the algorithms was verified with a different set of experimental data taken in our laboratory using a 137Cs source of 180 μCi. A localization resolution of a bare radioactive source of the order of 10 cm to 20 cm has been archived in 3D after at least of 40 sec exposure time within a monitored volume of 5 m × 2.8 m × 2 m. The localization of slightly shielded sources in 3D can be also achieved but with a hardly worse resolution.

We present a small form factor (0.5𝑐𝑚3) static CZT sensor net-work consisted of a number of Non- Directional Detectors (NDD)capable to localize a stationary radiation source in 3D. The localiza-tion is performed with a fusion algorithm based on AI techniques.The algorithms are based on Multilayer Perseptron Neural Net-work (MLP) and Gradient Boosted Decision Trees (BDTG). Theyhave been trained using simulated data produced by the SWORDsimulation software based on Geant4 framework. The localizationefficiency of the algorithms was verified with experimental datataken in our laboratory using a137𝐶𝑠source of180𝜇𝐶𝑖. The local-ization resolution of the order of 10cm to 15cm has been archivedin Vertical and Horizontal directions respectively and of the orderof less than 20cm in the depth direction within a monitored volumeof 5m x 2.8m x 2m

Radiation doses received by astronauts outside the geomagnetic field are a main risk factor for human space exploration. The Miniaturized Detector for Application in Space (MIDAS) device is a highly miniaturized radiation detector (mass <50 g, volume < 5 × 5 × 1 cm3) which is under development using fully depleted monolithic active pixel sensors and a plastic scintillator readout by a Silicon Photomultiplier. Its purpose is to measure dose and dose equivalent from both charged particles and fast neutrons. The device simulated response to galactic cosmic rays spectra has been treated with artificial intelligence techniques i.e. multi-classification for particle identification and regression for the determination of the kinetic energy of protons. Results indicate that particle identification and kinetic energy determination with the aid of these methods could be a viable approach.

We present a small factor (0.5 cm3) CZT static sensor network consisted of a number of Non-Directional Detectors (NDD) capable to localize bare and lightly shielded radiation sources. The localization is performed with a fusion algorithm based on a fast analytical technique. The algorithm has been tested using simulated data and verified with experimental data from a static 137Cs source of 7 MBq. The localization accuracy of the order of 15 cm has been archived in 3D for bare sources and of the order of 20 cm in 2D for light shielded sources within a monitored volume of 5 m × 2.8 m × 2 m.

The Miniaturized Detector for Application in Space (MIDAS) device is developed in response to the requirement of the European Space Agency for a device whose size, power consumption, and radiation data output would increase the level of space‐flight crew autonomy regarding operational decisions related to radiation hazards. It is designed as a wristwatch‐dimension cube detector for measuring track direction and energy deposition in silicon pixels, as well as energy depositions by neutrons in a plastic scintillator, which is the core of the cube. Miniaturization was achieved by using fully depleted silicon pixel detectors with the signal processing electronics residing on pixel. The device concept, simulated performance, and first measurements are presented. Simulation results indicate that it is possible to discriminate all significant ions with the aid of appropriate variables constructed using the data provided by the device. 252Cf energy spectra were reconstructed successfully using measurements obtained with the first device prototype.

Coded aperture imaging transcends planar imaging with conventional collimators in efficiency and Field of View (FOV). We present experimental results for the detection of 141 keV and 122 keV γ-photons emitted by uniformly extended 99mTc and 57Co hot-spots along with simulations of uniformly and normally extended 99mTc hot-spots. These results prove that the method can be used for intra-operative imaging of radio-traced sentinel nodes and thyroid remnants. The study is performed using a setup of two gamma cameras, each consisting of a coded-aperture (or mask) of Modified Uniformly Redundant Array (MURA) of rank 19 positioned on top of a CdTe detector. The detector pixel pitch is 350 μm and its active area is 4.4 × 4.4 cm2, while the mask element size is 1.7 mm. The detectable photon energy ranges from 15 keV up to 200 keV with an energy resolution of 3–4 keV FWHM. Triangulation is exploited to estimate the 3D spatial coordinates of the radioactive spots within the system FOV. Two extended sources, with uniform distributed activity (11 and 24 mm in diameter, respectively), positioned at 16 cm from the system and with 3 cm distance between their centers, can be resolved and localized with accuracy better than 5%. The results indicate that the estimated positions of spatially extended sources lay within their volume size and that neighboring sources, even with a low level of radioactivity, such as 30 MBq, can be clearly distinguished with an acquisition time about 3 seconds.

We describe a setup which consists of two CdTe based gamma cameras with coded apertures and a video camera. The system is used for the localization of radioactive sources via triangulation. By adjusting the mask-to-detector distance the maximum Fully Coded Field of View (FCFV) is 92.72 degrees. The System Point Spread Function (SPSF), the Angular Resolution (AR) and the Point Source Location Accuracy (PSLA) are investigated using experimental data and simulations.

We describe a system consisting of two CdTe based gamma cameras with coded apertures and a video camera. The system is used for the localization of radioactive sources with the aid of triangulation. The methods used and the performance of the system are analyzed.

The development of instruments utilizing coded apertures has become more feasible with the progress of the Cd(Zn)Te hybrid detector technology. The collective performance of systems comprised by such devices can be evaluated in all the fields where traditionally coded aperture imaging has been applied. Along this direction, we present the evaluation of the performance of a system, which consists of two identical coded aperture gamma cameras. Each detector has an active area of 4.4× 4.4 cm2 with 16384 pixels. The two cameras are used for the estimation of the spatial coordinates of a radioactive source by employing triangulation. The system source location accuracy and efficiency are analyzed using experimental data and simulations.

Several small gamma cameras for radioguided surgery using CdTe or CdZnTe have parallel or pinhole collimators. Coded aperture imaging is a well-known method for gamma ray source directional identification, applied in astrophysics mainly. The increase in efficiency due to the substitution of the collimators by the coded masks renders the method attractive for gamma probes used in radioguided surgery. We have constructed and operationally verified a setup consisting of two CdTe gamma cameras with Modified Uniform Redundant Array (MURA) coded aperture masks of rank 7 and 19 and a video camera. The 3-D position of point-like radioactive sources is estimated via triangulation using decoded images acquired by the gamma cameras. We have also developed code for both fast and detailed simulations and we have verified the agreement between experimental results and simulations. In this paper we present a simulation study for the spatial localization of two point sources using coded aperture masks with rank 7 and 19.

We review the feasibility studies performed regarding the ability of a proposed portable radiation CdTe pixelated detecting system to localize radioactive sources. The proposed instrument is a stack of ten CdTe layers consisting of 10000 pixels of 400μm x 400μm size, in a two-dimensional arrangement,occupying an area of 4cm x 4cm, placed 2 cm apart. Simulation results show that the system is able to achieveareconstructed image resolution less than ~4x10-3srand that it can accurately estimate the direction of point-like radioactive sources within 1° (both in azimuth and inclination) for inclination angles up to 50°.Moreover, the ability of the system to estimate the source-to-detector distance has beenevaluated by studying three different algorithms tested on a large number of simulated photons over a wide energy range (from 200 keV to 2 MeV) emitted by point-like radioactive sources located at different orientations and source-to-detector distances. Results show that the technique based on the quality of reconstructed images can accurately estimate sources located in the near field of the detector. The technique based on the number of fully absorbed photons in each detecting layer can estimate source-to-detector distances up to 2 m for incident photon energies up to 2 MeV, within 2σ, whereas the triangulation technique can estimate the position of point-like sources within 3 cm centimeters for sources located at 50cm distances from the detector’s center

We present the development of a stacked gamma radiation detecting system, consisting of three layers of pixelated Cadmium Telluride detectors (PID350). A high speed (120 frames/s) data acquisition system has been developed in order the system being able to compete with high flux of gamma rays. The PID350 detectors photo-peak energy resolution ranges from 1.73 keV to 2.15 keV (FWHM) at 59.5 KeV. Spectroscopic measurements performed have shown that the stacked detecting system is able to accurately evaluate the position of a 140.5 keV radioactive source located at distances in the range from 30 cm to 1 m.

We present simulation studies on the ability of a proposed portable radiation detecting instrument to reconstruct images of radioactive sources. The instrument is a stack of ten CdTe layers placed 2 cm apart, consisting of 10000 pixels in a two-dimensional arrangement, occupying an area of 4cmx4cm. The image reconstruction is performed using LM-MELM, an imaging algorithm based on the Compton imaging technique. Point-like radioactive sources emitting gamma-rays in a broad energy range, located at various distances and orientations with respect to the detectors symmetry axis have been simulated in order to estimate the ability of the instrument to reconstruct the source images. Results on the reconstructed image resolution are presented.

Simulation studies are presented regarding the performance of algorithms that localize point‐like radioactive sources detected by a position sensitive portable radiation instrument (COCAE). The source direction is estimated by using the List Mode Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization (LM‐ML‐EM) imaging algorithm. Furthermore, the source‐to‐detector distance is evaluated by three different algorithms based on the photo‐peak count information of each detecting layer, the quality of the reconstructed source image, and the triangulation method. These algorithms have been tested on a large number of simulated photons over a wide energy range (from 200 keV to 2 MeV) emitted by point‐like radioactive sources located at different orientations and source‐to‐detector distances.

We present results on the reconstructed image resolution of a position sensitive radiation instrument (COCAE) based on extensive simulation studies. The reconstructed image resolution has been investigated in a wide range of incident photon energies emitted by point-like sources located at different source-to-detector distances on and off the detector’s symmetry axis. The ability of the detector to distinguish multiple radioactive sources observed simultaneously is investigating by simulating point-like sources of different energies located on and off the detector’s symmetry axis and at different positions

The COCAE project develops an instrument for localization and identification of radioactive sources. For the localization task it will exploit the Compton scattered photons within its detecting layers. It is based on pixilated Cd(Zn)Te matrices in a stacked configuration. Progress has been achieved in all the components necessary for this technology. CdZnTe crystals have been grown of up to 75 mm in diameter. A wafer level pixelization process has been tested and its results will be presented. Angular resolution for directional identification of the order of 6 ° requires energy resolution better than 5%. For this reason we have investigated planar metal-p-n diodes fabricated by using laser-induced solid phase doping and Schottky diodes created by Ar-ion etching of the Cd(Zn)Te surfaces before deposition of Ni electrodes. The energy resolution achieved is better than 1% FWHM @662 KeV. The development of a pixel CMOS readout integrated circuit has been undertaken. It outputs in digital format address, energy and time information for the pixels which have collected charge above a given threshold. Simulation studies of the minimum detection limits, of the Compton sequencing algorithms, of the angular resolution and of the reconstruction of the radioactive source position have been performed. Experiments with a precursor setup using an existing hybrid detector are underway.

Spectroscopic measurements are presented using the PID350 pixelated gamma radiation detectors. A high-speed data acquisition system has been developed in order to reduce the data loss during the data reading in case of a high flux of photons. A data analysis framework has been developed in order to improve the resolution of the acquired energy spectra, using specific calibration parameters for each PID350’s pixel. Three PID350 detectors have been used to construct a stacked prototype system and spectroscopic measurements have been performed in order to test the ability of the prototype to localize radioactive sources.

Simulation studies and spectroscopic measurements are presented regarding the development of a pixel multilayer CdTe detector under development in the context of the COCAE project. The instrument will be used for the localization and identification of radioactive sources and radioactively contaminated spots. For the localization task the Compton effect is exploited. The detector response under different radiation fields as well as the overall efficiency of the detector has been evaluated. Spectroscopic measurements have been performed to evaluate the energy resolution of the detector. The efficiency of the event reconstruction has been studied in a wide range of initial photon energies by exploiting the detector’s angular resolution measure distribution. Furthermore, the ability of the COCAE detector to localize radioactive sources has been investigated.

The COCAE project develops an instrument for localization and identification of radioactive sources. For the localization task it will exploit the Compton scattered photons within its detecting layers. It is based on pixilated Cd(Zn)Te matrices in a stacked configuration. Progress has been achieved in all the components necessary for this technology. CdZnTe crystals have been grown of up to 75 mm in diameter. A wafer level pixelization process has been tested and its results will be presented. Very good energy resolution is necessary for the performance of the instrument. For this reason we have investigated planar M-p-n diodes fabricated by using laser-induced solid phase doping and Schottky diodes created by Arion etching of the Cd(Zn)Te surfaces before deposition of Ni electrodes. The energy resolution achieved is better than 1% FWHM @662 KeV. The development of a pixel CMOS readout integrated circuit has been undertaken. It outputs in digital format address, energy and time information for the pixels which have collected charge above a given threshold. Simulation studies of the minimum detection limits, of the Compton sequencing algorithms, of the angular resolution and of the reconstruction of the radioactive source position have been performed. Experiments with a precursor setup using an existing hybrid detector are underway.

Extensive simulations of a portable radiation detecting system have been performed in order to explore important performance parameters. The instrument consists of a stack of ten detecting layers made of pixelated Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) crystals. Its aim is to localize and identify radiation sources, by exploiting the Compton imaging technique. In this paper we present performance parameters based on simulation studies. Specifically the ratio of incompletely absorbed photons, the detector’s absolute efficiency as well as its energy and angular resolution are evaluated in a wide range of incident photon energies.

We present extensive simulation studies on the performance of algorithms for the Compton sequence reconstruction used for the development of a portable spectroscopic instrument (COCAE), with the capability to localize and identify radioactive sources, by exploiting the Compton scattering imaging. Various Compton Sequence reconstruction algorithms have been compared using a large number of simulated events. These algorithms are based on Compton kinematics, as well as on statistical test criteria that exploit the redundant information of events having two or more photon interactions in the active detector’s volume. The efficiency of the best performing technique is estimated for a wide range of incident gamma-ray photons emitted from point-like gamma sources.

This note describes the preparations towards searching for the production of a Z boson in association with a photon at the LHC with s = 10 TeV in the first 200 pb −1 of data. A sensitivity analysis investigating a search for anomalous couplings of the Z and photon is also presented. These studies are performed using both Pythia 6 and a modified event generator from U. Baur to produce signal samples. Background samples used are CMS production monte carlo.

We have performed simulation studies of CdTe pixel detectors using the commercial SDEVICE simulator by SYNOPSYS. We have incorporated energy levels and concentrations of defects in the band gap using the information by published compensation models. We have performed I-V simulation experiments. We simulated the transient behavior of the detectors due to the bombardment with alpha particles and X-ray photons. The simulation of the interaction with alpha particles required the description of the dependency on energy of the Bragg peak in CdTe, which we included in the material database file of CdTe. We investigated the relation of the charge collected at neighbor pixels with the depth of interaction of X ray quanta. The study has the following purposes (a) To provide realistic current waveforms as input to electronics simulations needed for the development of pixel readout electronics. (b) To evaluate methods for the extraction of the depth of interaction. (c) To incorporate to this device simulator as much detailed information as possible about the material, about the electrodes and about the defects that degrade its performance and explore through numerical simulation their effect on charge collection.

High resistivity CdTe semiconductor is widely used in the production of X-and J-ray detectors. Electrical and spectral properties of CdTe-based devices strongly depend on the nature of point defects in the initial crystals and also on evolution of the semiconductor defect structure during fabrication and operation of detectors. Recently, we have shown that the nanosecond laser procedure can be successfully used for surface processing of CdTe crystals, doping of a thin surface layer and producing diode structures which are sensitive to X- and Ȗ-ray radiation [1-5]. However, the laser action is accompanied by the formation of native point defects, complexes as well as extended defects in the semiconductor. High energy radiation also results in transformation of the point defect structure during detector operation

Applying a general Artificial Neural Network approach, the possibility to discriminate neutral pions (π0) from photons was studied using information from both ECAL and Preshower subdetectors. For unconverted particles the obtained neutral pion rejection could vary between 29% and 76% depending on the method used for selecting unconverted particles, the transverse energy and the pseudorapidity. The test of the algorithm on H → γγ and γ + Jet events showed that, in case of both photons are unconverted, the γ + Jet background could be reduced by 46% to 57% maintaining almost 85% to 88% of the Higgs events respectivly and this depends on the choise of the unconversion method used.

In this work we focus on a design of a medium resolution spectrograph for the night sky background radiation, in conjunction with appropriate telescopes, in order to seek for the optimum performance. Best results seem to be obtained using concave gratings. Using a grating with about 800 grooves per mm designed for flat field spectrograph and 24 cm focal length, we are able to record night sky background spectra in a reasonably small time interval while the light detector used is based on a commercial dSLR camera. The spectra obtained show the expected line from atomic oxygen nightglow at 557.7 nm, and the pseudo-continuum part is consistent with data from telescope-based spectrometers. This instrumentation may become a versatile tool for diagnostics in Extensive Air Shower fluorescence telescopes development and operation.

The Little Higgs model gives an alternative solution to the fine-tuning problem present in the Standard Model (SM) of strong and electroweak interactions. The model invokes several new particles of TeV mass range, the lightest among them being a heavy quark (T) of charge +2/3. The CMS potential to discover this particle during intial years of LHC running is investigate

This paper contains the first realistic estimate for the CMS sensitivity to Flavour Changing Neutral Currents (FCNC) in the top quark sector. The non-Standard Model decays t->Zq and t->γq (where represents or quarks) have been studied at 14 TeV exploiting the leptonic decays of the Z boson and the photon. A realistic detector simulation has been adopted and the most important systematic effects have been addressed. The 5- sigma discovery limits for the two decays are BR(t->Zq)=11.4x10^-4 and BR(t->γq)=5.7x10^-4, allowing some models of new physics to be tested.

A measurement of the branching fraction R s =Γ ss̄ /Γ had of the Z 0 into strange quarks was made. For this measurement energetic φ 0 mesons decaying into K + K − and charged kaons were used to tag the presence of e + e − → Z 0 → ss̄ events. 1.4 million hadronic Z 0 events collected by the DELPHI detector in 1994 have been used for this measurement. The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH) was used to identify the charged kaons. For φ 0 ’s with a fraction of momentum higher than 0.5 a ss̄ event purity of 77% was reached while for charged kaon analysis this purity was at the level of 40%. The ratio R s was measured to be R s = 0.233 ± 0.003(stat.) ± 0.024(syst.) in agreement with the Standard Model value and the already measured value of R_b.