Opaque Scintillator Detector Development Capital Equipment 2022

不透明闪烁体探测器开发资本设备 2022

• 批准号: ST/X004961/1
• 负责人: William Griffith
• 金额: $ 10.41万
• 依托单位: University of Sussex
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FX004961%2F1
• 关键词: Opaque; Scintillator; Detector; Development; Capital

Many radiation detectors use scintillators, which are materials that give off light when radiation such as gamma rays hits them. Traditionally, scintillators have always been transparent, and this was necessary to allow detection of the light. The new concept being applied in this project is to use the combination of an opaque scintillator and a lattice of fibre optic cables. The opacity causes the light to bounce around close to where it is produced and then the fibres extract the light. Such a configuration enables high-resolution imaging capabilities at a potentially lower cost.A particularly promising application for this type of detector is in detection of invisible, near-massless particles called neutrinos. One of the most pressing questions in physics is why the universe is comprised of matter and not anti-matter. Recent discoveries in neutrino oscillations have shown that we have a way to help answer this question: we can precisely compare the oscillations of neutrinos and antineutrinos to see if they are different. To make the precise measurements needed, we have to understand all the important ways that neutrinos interact with matter and we haven't got there yet. We need more precise detectors, able to accurately track all the high-energy particles that are produced when neutrinos interact. Besides fundamental physics, this type of detector can potentially lead to better and lower cost medical imaging systems and non-destructive imaging with muon tomography.The funds in this grant will allow us to purchase a 3D printer that can produce parts with the same structural properties as aluminium. This will allow us to rapidly prototype and produce detector components with fine details necessary for optical fibre placement and holding, with structural strength to maintain dimensional stability under fibre tension. We will also purchase a vector network analyser (VNA). This electronics equipment will be used to test and characterise high speed amplifiers and other electronics that make up the light detection system for our detectors.This work is part of detector R&D activities in the Sussex Experimental Particle Physics group supported by our STFC Consolidated Grant (ST/S000798/1, Oct 2019-Sept 2022; ST/W000512/1, Oct 2022-Sept 2025).

许多辐射探测器使用闪烁体，这是一种当伽马射线等辐射击中它们时会发光的材料。传统上，反射器总是透明的，这是允许检测光所必需的。该项目采用的新概念是将不透明闪烁体和光纤电缆网格结合使用。这种不透明性使光线在靠近产生光线的地方反弹，然后纤维提取光线。这种结构可以以较低的成本实现高分辨率的成像能力。这种探测器的一个特别有前途的应用是探测不可见的、接近无质量的粒子，称为中微子。物理学中最紧迫的问题之一是为什么宇宙由物质而不是反物质组成。最近在中微子振荡方面的发现表明，我们有办法帮助回答这个问题：我们可以精确地比较中微子和反中微子的振荡，看看它们是否不同。为了进行所需的精确测量，我们必须了解中微子与物质相互作用的所有重要方式，而我们还没有做到这一点。我们需要更精确的探测器，能够准确地跟踪中微子相互作用时产生的所有高能粒子。除了基础物理学，这种类型的探测器可能会导致更好和更低成本的医疗成像系统和μ子断层扫描的非破坏性成像。这笔赠款中的资金将允许我们购买一台3D打印机，该打印机可以生产具有与铝相同结构特性的零件。这将使我们能够快速原型化和生产具有光纤放置和固定所需的精细细节的探测器组件，其结构强度可在光纤张力下保持尺寸稳定性。我们还将购买矢量网络分析仪（VNA）。该电子设备将用于测试和调试构成探测器光探测系统的高速放大器和其他电子设备。这项工作是苏塞克斯实验粒子物理组探测器研发活动的一部分，由我们的STFC综合资助（ST/S 000798/1，2019年10月至2022年9月; ST/W 000512/1，2022年10月至2025年9月）。