Development of the Segmented Inverted Coaxial Germanium (SIGMA) Detector for Enhanced Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy and Imaging

核物理学试图回答一些基本的科学问题，如“宇宙是如何开始的？它是如何演变的？”星星是如何诞生的？宇宙的基本成分和结构是什么？它们是如何相互作用的？我们如何探索和理解宇宙的极端？”这项研究的目的是开发新技术，使英国和国际核物理学界的科学家能够调查和解决这些关键问题。将开发一种新型辐射探测器SIGMA，它将在性能上比目前最先进的系统有重大进步。SIGMA探测器将能够定位空间和时间上的伽马射线相互作用。这些信息将被用来追踪伽马射线，以无与伦比的精度回到它们的起源点。该探测器将与AIDA系统一起使用，AIDA系统将探测另一种辐射——β粒子。英国爱丁堡大学、利物浦大学和STFC达斯伯里实验室的核科学家已经在开发这个系统。未来的核物理实验将结合来自两个探测系统的信息，以促进在国际设施收集高质量的数据。这项技术将大大增强这些实验，在这些实验中，每天只产生几个感兴趣的原子核。长期计划是在德国FAIR设施部署几个SIGMA探测器作为DESPEC实验的一部分，许多英国科学家将在那里进行他们的研究。在这项实验中，探测器将用于测量以前从未观察到的原子核的关键特性，以更深入地了解恒星是如何诞生和演化的。SIGMA探测器的开发对STFC英国核物理学具有高度的战略重要性，并且是及时的，FAIR设施将于2019年上线。本研究的第二个目的是评估SIGMA探测器作为商业和工业应用的伽马射线成像系统的适用性。该探测器将彻底改变各种应用的性能，如核退役、安全、环境监测和医学成像。例如，在核医学中使用探测器将通过早期诊断癌症和神经系统疾病来提高生活质量和健康。该探测器还可用于国家安全和国防领域。例如，它可以用于成像皇家海军潜艇上核反应堆乏燃料的伽马射线图。从这样一个系统中获得的数据将用于建立模型，为未来反应堆的安全设计奠定基础。

Nuclear physics seeks to answer fundamental science questions such as "How did the universe begin and how is it evolving? How are stars born? What are the fundamental constituents and fabric of the universe and how do they interact? How can we explore and understand the extremes of the universe?" The aim of this research is to develop new technology that will allow scientists from the UK and international nuclear physics communities to investigate and address these key questions. A new type of radiation detector will be developed, SIGMA, which will provide a major advance in performance over current state-of-the-art systems. The SIGMA detector will be able to locate gamma-ray interactions in space and time. This information will be used to track gamma-rays back to their point of origin, with unrivalled accuracy. The detector will be used alongside the AIDA system, which will detect another type of radiation, beta particles. This system is already under development by UK nuclear scientists at the Universities of Edinburgh and Liverpool and at STFC Daresbury Laboratory. Future nuclear physics experiments will combine the information from both detection systems to facilitate the collection of high-quality data at international facilities. This technique is set to significantly enhance these experiments, where as little as a few nuclei of interest are produced in a day.The long-term plan is that several SIGMA detectors will be deployed as part of the DESPEC experiment at the FAIR facility in Germany, where many UK scientists will conduct their research. In this experiment, the detectors will be used to measure key properties of nuclei that have never been observed before, to provide a deeper understanding of how stars are born and how they evolve. Development of the SIGMA detector is of high strategic importance to the STFC UK nuclear physics and is timely, with the FAIR facility coming online from 2019.A secondary aim of this research is to evaluate the suitability of the SIGMA detector for deployment as a gamma-ray imaging system for commercial and industrial applications. The detector would revolutionise performance in a variety of applications such as nuclear decommissioning, security, environmental monitoring and medical imaging. For example, using the detector in nuclear medicine would enhance quality of life and health through earlier diagnosis of cancer and neurological conditions. The detector could also be operated in national security and defence. For example, it could be used to image gamma-ray maps from spent fuel from nuclear reactors on board Royal Navy submarines. Data acquired from such a system would be used to inform models that underpin the safe design of future reactors.