Investigation of the energy resolution with a RETGEM detector

A novel Micro-pattern gaseous detector （MPGD）, thick GEM with electrodes made of a resistive material （RETGEM） is presented. In this paper we mainly investigate the energy resolution of a RETGEM in Ar＋CO2 with different gas mixtures. The results indicate that an energy resolution 30% in single and double mode can be obtained. The existence of an optimum energy resolution is discussed.     

RETGEM探测器的初步测试

研制了一种新型的带有阻抗性电极的TGEM——RETGEM(Thick GEM with Resistive Electrodes)探测器, 阻抗性电极可以有效地保护探测器和前端电子学免于偶尔放电的损伤。 对RETGEM探测器进行了初步测试, 其中包括计数率、能量分辨、增益以及打火率。 结果表明, 探测器达到了设计的基本要求。 In this study we present preliminary results from a new detector: a thick gaseous electron multiplier(GEM) with resistive electrodes. The resistive electrodes protect the detector and the front end electronics from damage by occasional discharges. In different gas mixtures, we test Thick GEM with Resistive Electrodes(RETGEM) detector for the first time, including counting rate, energy resolution, effective gain, and discharge probability. The results can satisfy the basic demand of RETGEM detector design.     

Performances of RETGEM with resistive electrodes made of kapton foils

THGEM with resistive Kapton electrodes (RETGEM) has been developed to make the THGEM more tolerant to discharges. At higher gains with resistive electrodes, serious discharges may travel to the streamer mode, in contrast to violent sparks in conventional GEMs. These streamers are mild and less dangerous to the detector and the front-end electronics. RETGEM looks very promising, and its basic properties are being studied. Recently we developed and tested the THGEM with electrodes using 20 um thick resistive kapton foils. The new RETGEM performs at a lower discharge current, has a lower discharge probability, and has a good energy resolution of 27% and a high effective gas gain and long-term stability.     

Characteristics of a 4-fold segmented clover detectore

Four high-purity germanium 4-fold segmented Clover detectors have been applied in the experiment of neutron-rich nucleus 21N. The performance of those four Clovers have been tested with radioactive sources and in-beam experiments, and the main results including energy resolution, peak-to-total ratios, the variation of the hit pattern distribution in different crystals of one Clover detector with the energy of γ ray, and absolute full energy peak detection effciency curve, were presented.     

Development of a two‐dimensional imaging system of X‐ray absorption fine structure

A two‐dimensional imaging system of X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) has been developed at beamline BL‐4 of the Synchrotron Radiation Center of Ritsumeikan University. The system mainly consists of an ionization chamber for I₀ measurement, a sample stage, and a two‐dimensional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor for measuring the transmitted X‐ray intensity. The X‐ray energy shift in the vertical direction, which originates from the vertical divergence of the X‐ray beam on the monochromator surface, is corrected by considering the geometrical configuration of the monochromator. This energy correction improves the energy resolution of the XAFS spectrum because each pixel in the CMOS detector has a very small vertical acceptance of ～0.5 µrad. A data analysis system has also been developed to automatically determine the energy of the absorption edge. This allows the chemical species to be mapped based on the XANES feature over a wide area of 4.8 mm (H) × 3.6 mm (V) with a resolution of 10 µm × 10 µm. The system has been applied to the chemical state mapping of the Mn species in a LiMn₂O₄ cathode. The heterogeneous distribution of the Mn oxidation state is demonstrated and is considered to relate to the slow delocalization of Li⁺‐defect sites in the spinel crystal structure. The two‐dimensional‐imaging XAFS system is expected to be a powerful tool for analyzing the spatial distributions of chemical species in many heterogeneous materials such as battery electrodes.     

基于4H-SiC的高能量分辨率α粒子探测器

为突破传统半导体核探测器耐高温与抗辐照性能不足的瓶颈,采用4H-SiC宽禁带半导体材料研制了4H-SiC探测器,并研究其构成的探测系统对α粒子的能量分辨率和能量线性度。所研制4H-SiC探测器漏电流低,当外加反向偏压为200V时,其漏电流仅14.92nA/cm2。采用具有5种主要能量α粒子的226 Ra源研究其构成的探测系统对α粒子的能量分辨率,获得4H-SiC探测系统对4.8~7.7 MeV能量范围内α粒子的能量分辨率为0.61%~0.90%,与国际上报道的高分辨4H-SiC探测系统能量分辨率一致。同时,实验结果表明:4H-SiC探测系统对该能量范围内α粒子的能量线性度十分优异,线性相关系数为0.999 99。     

Superconducting tunnel junctions as detectors for high‐resolution x‐ray spectroscopy

Superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs) are a type of cryogenic detector with a working temperature of about 100 mK. They allow the combination of low energy threshold, high quantum efficiency and good count rate capability with an excellent energy resolution; at an x‐ray energy of 5.9 keV an energy resolution of 10.8 eV (FWHM) has been achieved. The detector system described is based on STJs which consist of two superconducting Al electrodes separated by a thin dielectric tunnel barrier. The tunneling process of quasi‐particles created by deposition of energy in the electrodes leads to a detectable current signal. The STJ is equipped with a superconducting Pb absorber which is read out via phonons. The Pb absorber increases absorption efficiency (～50% at 6 keV) and suppresses detector artefacts. The degeneration of Pb, most probably due to oxidation, is overcome by the introduction of a protective SiO layer on top of the absorber. This layer leads to a slight reduction of energy resolution. Nevertheless, a resolution of 9.7 eV at 1.7 keV and of ～20 eV at 5.9 keV could be realized with a prototype detector. Currently this STJ‐based detector system is being incorporated into a prototype cryogenic spectrometer for XRF analysis. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Energy resolution of silicon charged particle detectors

It is shown that the energy resolution of silicon detectors, estimated from α-ray spectra irradiated by a reference α source (i.e., the surface resolution), is not always an indicator of detector quality. The energy resolution found from the spectra of particles that penetrate deeply into the detector material (i.e., the depth resolution) can be quite inferior to the surface resolution. It is proposed that detectors be tested in a quasimochromatic neutron flux.     

Barrel calorimeter of the CMD-3 detector

The structure of the barrel calorimeter of the CMD-3 detector is presented in this work. The procedure of energy calibration of the calorimeter and the method of photon energy restoration are described. The distinctive feature of this barrel calorimeter is its combined structure; it is composed of two coaxial subsystems: a liquid xenon calorimeter and a crystalline CsI calorimeter. The calorimeter spatial resolution of the photon conversion point is about 2 mm, which corresponds to an angular resolution of ～6 mrad. The energy resolution of the calorimeter is about 8% for photons with energy of 200 MeV and 4% for photons with energy of 1 GeV.     

Performances of a metallic magnetic calorimeter for the measurement of hard X‐ray emission intensities

The energy spectrum analysis of X‐ray intensities with semiconductor detectors is often difficult because their energy resolution is usually not good enough to separate the different X‐ray lines. Metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs) can be an alternative; they can offer both high energy resolution and high intrinsic detection efficiency from 0 to 100 keV. MMCs are thermal detectors; that is to say, the energy of each absorbed photon is measured as a temperature elevation. At very low temperature, typically few tens of mK, a very large pulse height‐to‐noise ratio can be obtained that is an essential condition for high energy resolution. We are involved in the development of MMCs for metrology applications such as the determination of hard X‐ray emission intensities. For that purpose, we conceived an MMC with an energy resolution of 57 eV around 30 keV. The absorber is made of gold providing high intrinsic detection efficiency even for a small volume, greater than 90% below 60 keV. We will describe the physical principle and the practical realisation of this detector and discuss its performances by analysing the energy spectrum obtained from a ¹³³Ba source. Preliminary outcomes of relative emission intensities of the K X‐ray of cesium are presented and compared with other experimental data and theoretical calculations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Femtosecond spectroscopic imaging by time-of-flight photoemission electron microscopy

Advances in electron optics and fast-pulsed light sources have enabled the imaging of nanoscale structures with simultaneous energy and time resolutions. We present the results obtained from a time-resolved time-of-flight photoemission electron microscopy (TR-TOF-PEEM) system. This system combined the spatial resolution of conventional PEEM with the time resolution of a femtosecond-pulsed laser and the energy resolution of a TOF energy analyzer. The TOF-PEEM system consists of three electrostatic lenses in front, a drift tube for the measurement of TOF, and a delay line detector (DLD) at the end of the optics. The excitation source is femtosecond pulses from a cavity-dumped Ti:sapphire oscillator that is frequency-doubled to 400 nm using a β-barium borate (BBO) crystal. Using a pump-probe two-photon photoemission technique, we demonstrate an example of sub-100 nm space-resolved ultrafast time evolution of the electron energy spectra for the plasmon resonance of an Ag-coated Si nanostructure, which exhibited unexpectedly intense high energy photoemission signals that show different time evolution between bright and dark regions in a PEEM image.     

单色化X射线显微成像实验研究

围绕激光惯性约束聚变(ICF)内爆压缩阶段高空间分辨、高能谱分辨的诊断需求,提出了一种将KB显微镜和衍射晶体组合的大视场、单色化成像系统。在实验室条件下,利用Fe靶X射线光管,采用KB显微镜结合高定向热解石墨(HOPG)对网格进行背光成像,晶体选能后的成像结果表明,系统的视场能达到800μm,其中高分辨区域成像的分辨率为37μm。采用能谱探测器测试成像能谱,结果表明,系统的能量分辨率为28,验证了系统的单色性能。该系统兼顾了大视场、空间分辨和能量分辨,对内爆压缩阶段实验中热斑结构及混合效应的研究具有重要应用。     

NSECT的锗酸铋阵列相邻信号叠加算法模拟研究

由于受激元素所辐射的光子能量范围主要集中在100 keV~6 MeV之间,因此通过基于此能量范围的射线源模拟实验研究了采用锗酸铋（BGO）阵列相邻信号叠加实现能量高分辨率的新方法并分析比较了其性能。结果显示:对于较高能的光子,若仅使用单根BGO晶体产生的信号时不可能得到较好的能量分辨率;而当使用BGO阵列将该单晶体产生的信号与相邻晶体产生信号相加,则能谱质量会变得更佳。对于能量分辨率为90 keV的能量窗,通过模拟得到平均固有空间分辨率为3.938 mm (FWHM)。     

Probe-type time-of-flight momentum and energy mapping system

A new time-of-flight (TOF) momentum and energy mapping system is proposed. The system consists of two sub-regions with different axial uniform decelerating field. Two position-sensitive detectors (PSDs) on opposite side of the tube are used for the detection of electrons with different axial motion length due to their initial energy ? and emission angle θ. A non-monotonic dependence of energy-resolving performance on electron initial energy can be achieved by choosing appropriate electric field deceleration for these two sub-regions, which forms an “energy resolution probe” possessing a higher level of energy resolution than that of lower energy part. And the local resolution in the probe region could be specifically enhanced while the other parts of all the detection range do not change so much. It is verified by the illustrating example with relative energy resolution Δ?/? smaller than 0.5% for electron energy in probe range from 36 eV to 45 eV.     

光学渡越辐射测量中能量分辨精度分析

 基于光学渡越辐射原理的用于高能强流电子束束流参数在线测量及诊断系统,具有时间响应快、分辨率高等特点,可以测量电子束的束剖面、发散角、能量等多个参数。分析了测量系统的结构参数（包括了透镜的焦距、成像面位置、CCD像元尺寸）对电子束能量测量精度的影响,并在理论上模拟了电子束的发散角的影响。还根据系统数据的特点,阐述了数据噪声对能量测量结果精度的影响,指出了光学渡越辐射测量中电子束能量分辨精度受到多种因素的影响,需要在数据处理时考虑修正。     

中子散射成像探测角分辨研究

中子散射成像技术是近年来国外正在发展的一项新型辐射成像技术, 在深空宇宙探测、核材料监控等方面具有广阔的应用前景. 角分辨是衡量该技术成像能力的一项重要参数. 研究了位置不确定度和能量分辨对角分辨的影响. 理论分析表明: 以不同角度散射, 成像的角分辨不同; 位置不确定不仅直接影响角分辨, 还通过影响能量不确定度对角分辨间接贡献; 位置分辨主要来源于探测器的结构尺寸, 当探测器尺寸小于5 cm, 影响角分辨的主要来源是能量不确定度. 利用所获得的理论结果指导设计了原理探测系统, 并对设计的原理系统开展了初步实验研究. 结果表明, 分析结果与实验得到的角分辨参数基本一致.     

Design of a neutron-TPC prototype and its performance evaluation based on an alpha-particle test

A neutron-TPC(n TPC)is being developed for use as a fast neutron spectrometer in the fields of nuclear physics,nuclear reactor operation monitoring,and thermo-nuclear fusion plasma diagnostics.An n TPC prototype based on a GEM-TPC(Time Projection Chamber with Gas Electron Multiplier amplification)has been assembled and tested using argon-hydrocarbon mixture as the working gas.By measuring the energy deposition of the recoil proton in the sensitive volume and the angle of the proton track,the incident neutron energy can be deduced.A Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to analyze the parameters affecting the energy resolution of the n TPC,and gave an optimized resolution under ideal conditions.An alpha particle experiment was performed to verify its feasibility,and to characterize its performance,including energy resolution and spatial resolution.Based on the experimental measurement and analysis,the energy resolution(FWHM)of the n TPC prototype is predicted to be better than 3.2%for 5 Me V incident neutrons,meeting the performance requirement(FWHM5%)for the n TPC prototype.     

Neutron light output function and resolution investigation of the deuterated organic liquid scintillator EJ-315

In this paper we investigate the light response to fast neutrons and estimate the pulse height resolution of a deuterated liquid organic scintillator, EJ-315, considering the detector's non-linear light response to gamma-rays. Initially, collision data and a neutron beam trigger are recorded in coincidence mode, and incident neutron energy is calculated with a time-of-flight technique. Fast neutrons are further discriminated from gamma-ray background based on the scintillation material decay patterns using a pulse shape discrimination algorithm. A light response matrix composed of multiple neutron energy and their corresponding light outputs is derived. The pulse height resolution property of the EJ-315 is characterized utilizing the derivatives of the pulse height distributions with corrections of the measurements setup uncertainties. Additionally, the EJ-315's pulse height resolution is also characterized by comparing the smoothed derivatives of quasi-monoenergetic neutron pulse height distributions, given by the Peierls-formula-based analytic model, to match the measurement data. Results show rather consistent 10–13% pulse resolution for mono-energetic neutrons with kinetic energy above 2 MeV. The resolution decreases slightly with an increase in neutron energy indicating the improved resolution performance of EJ-315 in the higher energy events.     

Energy resolution and non-proportionality of scintillation detectors – new observations

According to the present knowledge, the non-proportionality of the light yield of scintillators appears to be the fundamental limitation of energy resolution and it is related to the intrinsic properties of the crystals. However, several observations collected in the last 10 years suggest more complex processes in the scintillators. First, the study of undoped NaI and CsI crystals showed that the non-proportionality and energy resolution are very sensitive to the accidental traces of impurities. For some crystals, like CsI(Tl), ZnSe(Te), undoped NaI at liquid nitrogen temperature and finally for NaI(Tl) at temperatures reduced below 0 °C, an influence of slow components of the light pulses on energy resolution and non-proportionality is observed. A common conclusion of these observations is the fact that the highest energy resolution, and particularly the intrinsic resolution measured with scintillators, characterized by two components of the light pulse decay, is obtainable when the spectrometry equipment integrates the whole light of both components. In the limiting case, the afterglow could be considered also as a very slow component destroying the energy resolution. The aim of this work is to summarize all above observations looking for their origin.     

Image resolution and sensitivity in an environmental transmission electron microscope

An environmental transmission electron microscope provides unique means for the atomic-scale exploration of nanomaterials during the exposure to a reactive gas environment. Here we examine conditions to obtain such in situ observations in the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) mode with an image resolution of 0.10nm. This HRTEM image resolution threshold is mapped out under different gas conditions, including gas types and pressures, and under different electron optical settings, including electron beam energies, doses and dose-rates. The 0.10nm resolution is retainable for H(2) at 1-10mbar. Even for N(2), the 0.10nm resolution threshold is reached up to at least 10mbar. The optimal imaging conditions are determined by the electron beam energy and the dose-rate as well as an image signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio that is consistent with Rose's criterion of S/N≥5. A discussion on the electron-gas interactions responsible for gas-induced resolution deterioration is given based on interplay with complementary electron diffraction (ED), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) as well as electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) data.