X-ray Enhancement and Attenuation in Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Detectors: In Search of new Markets

“X射线是一种使用比较广泛的工具，它可以观察到通过使用可见光无法观察到的特征。这是因为它们对大多数材料具有高度渗透性。因此，它们被用于医学成像，如乳房X射线照相术，牙科，管道，船舶，飞机的机械完整性评估，以及在食品加工过程中识别任何不希望的金属污染物等。为了使用X射线查看或成像特征，采用本质上与手机中使用的相机有点类似的探测器。然而，由于它们的设计是基于散装材料的既定物理原理，因此通常需要使用高X射线剂量才能清楚地观察到特征。SilverRay Ltd.是一家旨在颠覆X射线检测方式的初创公司。SilverRay的团队已经能够开发出一种基于纳米技术的探测器，其剂量比当前标准技术低近10-100倍。令人惊讶的是，我们已经确定，如果遵循辐射物理界使用的既定规则，这种能力将比预期高出近100 -1000倍。因此，我们认为，一个新的机制，以前没有使用的X射线探测器技术是在这种观察到的增强的核心。一个潜在的起源观察到的增强是散射的X射线从纳米尺度的功能。这有点类似于天体物理学家经常使用的方法，以识别太空中的尘埃颗粒（X射线天文学）。虽然SilverRay的团队已经成功地基于计算机模拟来支持这一理论，但我们现在正在收集证据，以通过实验证明这一假设。我们相信，使用特定的测量技术，当样品被单一能量的X射线击中时，能够识别特征峰，将有助于我们证明该机制。如果所提出的机制确实发生了，我们希望看到峰值的分布，就像样品被由不同能量的X射线组成的探针击中时一样。我们相信，国家物理实验室的团队在开发类似于我们感兴趣的计量工具和测量工具方面拥有丰富的经验，将成为解决这一表征问题的理想合作伙伴。"

"X-rays are a somewhat widely used tool that enables features that cannot be observed through the use of visible light to be observed. This is in view of their highly penetrating nature through most materials. As such, these are used in medical imaging such as mamography, dentistry, evaluation of the mechanical integrity of pipes, ships, planes, identifying any undesired metallic contaminants during food processing among many others.In order to see or image features using X-rays, detectors which are somewhat similar in nature to cameras used in cell phones are employed. However, due to their design being based on established physical principles for bulk materials, these often require the use of high X-ray doses for features to be clearly observed.SilverRay Ltd. is a startup company that is aimed at disrupting the manner in which X-ray detection is conducted. The team at SilverRay have been able to develop a detector based on nanotechnology that enables a dose that is nearly 10-100 times lower than is used by current standard technologies. Surprisingly, we have identified this capability to be nearly x100-1000 higher than what is expected if the established rules used by the radiation physics community is followed. Therefore we believe that a new mechanism that has not been previously utilised in the X-ray detector technology is at the heart of this observed enhancement.A potential origin for the observed enhancements is the scattering of X-rays from nanoscale features. This is somewhat similar to the process that is often used by astrophysicists in order to identify dust particles in space (X-ray astronomy). While the team at SilverRay have managed to support this theory based on computer simulations, we are now gathering evidence to work towards experimentally proving this hypothesis. We believe that the use of specific measurement technologies that are able to identify a signature peak when a sample is hit by X-rays of single energy will help us to prove the mechanism. In the event that the proposed mechanism does indeed take place, we expect to see a distribution of peaks much like when the sample is hit by a probe consisting of X-rays of different energies. We believe that the team at the National Physical Laboratory with their extensive experience in developing metrology tools and measurement tools similar to what we are interested in, will be an ideal partner that will enable this characterisation problem to be solved."