STTR Phase I: A Personal Radiation Dosimeter Using Solid State Tissue Equivalent Detector Technology (SSTED)

这一小型企业技术转让(STTR)第一阶段项目的广泛影响包括社会效益和经济效益。在成功完成后，该项目将引入一种新型的辐射防护监测器或剂量计，可能暴露于电离辐射(如x射线)的个人将佩戴该监测器或剂量计。通常，这包括卫生保健工作者、核能工作者、士兵和急救人员。这种新的剂量计更准确地测量人体暴露，因为它对辐射的反应方式与人体组织的反应相同。这被称为组织等效性，它代表了辐射监测方面的突破性技术。以负担得起的价格进行组织当量检测的承诺使放射工作人员能够改进和高效的剂量管理，更安全的医疗程序，更广泛地接受原子能来源，为军方提供新颖的筛查和有效的监测，并为急救人员提供更好的态势感知。此外，新的剂量计，称为固态组织等效探测器或SSTED，由完全有机材料使用更现代的制造技术制成。总体而言，这降低了典型剂量计的单位成本。从经济的角度来看，SSTED的引入将在一个新的技术部门创造就业机会，同时降低辐射监测的成本。这个拟议的项目将优化当前固态组织等效探测器(SSTED)的配置设计，以克服剩下的一个重大技术挑战。有机半导体器件对电离辐射反应良好。不幸的是，连接设备有源区和偏置电子设备的物理键可能也会对辐射做出反应。有机半导体器件对电离辐射的响应是组织等效的，因为半导体具有与组织相同的辐射截面。该键不是有机的，因此不会产生与组织等效的反应。该项目将决定是否可以调整有机器件本身的设计参数，以屏蔽键合响应。为此，将制造具有不同有源区厚度和几何形状的器件，并用窄辐射束探测整个器件及其相关的支持电子和键合区，以表征器件内每个子区和支持结构对响应的贡献。这将回答这样一个问题：“能否优化一组设计参数，以消除辐射测量中的键合响应？”决定是否必须采用抵消债券响应的补偿性设计方案。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project includes both societal and economic benefits. Upon successful completion, the project will introduce a new type of radiation protection monitor or dosimeter that would be worn by individuals that are potentially exposed to ionizing radiation (like x-rays). Typically, this includes health care workers, nuclear energy workers, soldiers, and first responders. This new dosimeter measures human exposure more accurately because it reacts to radiation the same way that human tissue responds. This is referred to as tissue equivalence, and it represents breakthrough technology in radiation monitoring. The promise of tissue equivalent detection at an affordable price allows for improved and efficient dose management for radiation workers, safer medical procedures, broader acceptance of atomic energy sources, novel screening and efficient monitoring for the military, and better situational awareness for first responders. Additionally, the new dosimeters, called Solid State Tissue Equivalent detectors or SSTEDs, are made from completely organic materials using more modern fabrication techniques. Overall, this reduces the cost per unit of a typical dosimeter. From an economic standpoint, the introduction of SSTEDs will create jobs in a new technology sector while decreasing the cost of radiation monitoring.This proposed project will optimize the design of the current Solid State Tissue Equivalent Detector (SSTED) configuration to overcome the one remaining significant technical challenge. Organic semiconductor devices respond well to ionizing radiation. Unfortunately, the physical bond that joins a device's active region to its biasing electronics also may respond to radiation. The response of organic semiconductor devices to ionizing radiation is tissue equivalent because the semiconductor has an equivalent radiation cross section to that of tissue. The bond is not organic, and therefore does not respond with a tissue equivalent response. The project will determine whether design parameters within the organic device itself can be adjusted to mask the bond response. To accomplish this, devices with varying active region thicknesses and geometries will be fabricated and entire devices and their associated supporting electronics and bond regions will be probed with a narrow radiation beam to characterize the contribution to the response of each sub-region within the device and supporting structures. This will answer the question "can a set of design parameters be optimized that will remove bond response from the radiation measurement?" determining whether a compensating design scheme that cancels out the bond response must be employed.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.