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Results for “RADIATION DETECTOR”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Research and Development Related to the Commercialization of Perovskite Radiation Detectors (CRADA Final Report)

This work will focus on the development of perovskite radiation detectors fabricated with nanocrystal, thick polycrystalline films, or single crystal materials. This will harness NREL’s instrumentation and expertise in a variety of research areas including but not limited to metal halide perovskites, device characterization, device packaging, accelerated lifetime testing, and ink chemistry development.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Characterization of a radiation detector based on opaque water-based liquid scintillator

Here, we present the characterization of a novel radiation detector based on an opaque water-based liquid scintillator. Opaque scintillators, also known as LiquidO, are made to be highly scattering, such that the scintillation light is effectively confined, and read out through wavelength-shifting fibers. The 1-liter, 32-channel prototype demonstrates the capability for both spectroscopy and topological reconstruction of point-like events. The design, construction, and evaluation of the detector are described, including modeling of the scintillation liquid optical properties and the detector’s response to gamma rays of several energies. A mean position reconstruction error of 4.4 mm for 1.6 MeV-equivalent events and 7.4 mm for 0.8 MeV-equivalent events is demonstrated using a simple reconstruction approach analogous to center-of-mass.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Efficient Optimization of Plasma Radiation Detector Configurations using Imperfect Inference Models

The configurations of instruments fielded on an experiment affect the amount of information captured and the quality of subsequent inference. Here, we investigate the problem of optimizing plasma x-ray radiation detectors in a magneto-inertial fusion experiment at Sandia National Laboratories. It is impossible to directly measure properties such as the temperature of the thermonuclear fusion plasma produced in these experiments because of the extreme environment and destructive nature of the experiment. Among other diagnostics, several detectors are placed with significant standoff from the fusion target to capture the x-rays emitted by the fusion plasma, which can be used to infer some of its properties. To optimize the configuration of these detectors, a high-fidelity model (HFM) is used for simulating outputs and a low-fidelity model (LFM) is used for inference. We develop methods based on A- and L-optimality criteria that are efficient to compute while explicitly accounting for the discrepancy between the HFM and the LFM. The method allows us to find detector configurations that perform similarly to or better than the configuration obtained using an existing sampling-based optimization method while decreasing computational time by a factor of 50. Supplementary materials for this article are available online, including a standardized description of the materials available for reproducing the work.

Bayesian optimization↗
DOE OSTI2025

A machine learning framework for accurate and robust analysis of radiation detector pulses

The microscopic properties of atomic nuclei are used to study various scientific questions. They are essential for understanding the fundamental forces of nature and the chemical evolution of the universe. Detecting decay radiation from radioactive nuclei makes it possible to probe these fundamental nuclear properties. Detector waveform traces may contain additional information about the radiation. Generally, advanced signal processing techniques are needed to extract this additional information, often involving fitting the waveform with model response functions using non-linear least-squares optimization with second-order gradient methods. While this is a powerful technique, it is also computationally expensive, leading to slow processing time, which scales with the volume of data. To address this problem, we have developed a machine learning (ML) approach that infers the characteristics of traces from a model detector response function. In particular, we are interested in classifying whether a single recorded trace consists of one or two pulse constituents and estimating the pulse parameters. Furthermore, our proposed ML method can precisely extract the pulses’ parameters, such as energy and timing information, and accurately classify the pulse multiplicity of a trace. Unlike non-learning-based approaches, our ML approach uses neural networks that are significantly faster at inference, as they do not require any optimization during this stage.

Curve fitting↗
DOE OSTI2025

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) as a radiation detector distinguishing neutrons and gammas

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3) is a promising ultrawide bandgap semiconductor for radiation detection with the potential of integrating electronic and scintillation functions within a single crystal device. This study establishes the scintillation response of β-Ga2O3 gamma irradiation from yttrium-88 (88Y). Then, californium-252 (252Cf) is used as a spontaneous fission source of mixed neutron and gamma radiation field to measure scintillation signals. Pulse shape discrimination and constant fraction discrimination techniques were used to separate neutron and gamma interaction events. Further investigation indicates that the prompt temporal responses of β-Ga2O3 for gammas and neutrons may enable discrimination of the two by prompt pulse fitting methods, focused around the initial peak. For gamma irradiation, we observed a rise time (τr) of 2.1 ns, decay time (τd) of 9.5 ns, and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 6.2 ns. For neutrons, it showed a τr of 2.3 ns, a τd of 12.1 ns, 9.4 ns FWHM, and reduced peak intensity. A diamond detector exhibited a more symmetrical τr and τd for both gamma and neutron signals and therefore is less effective at discriminating between the two by this method. This draws attention to β-Ga2O3’s ability to distinguish neutron and gamma particles. These findings showcase Ga2O3’s potential as a next-generation semiconductor for applications in nuclear safety and medical imaging, where precise discrimination between neutron and gamma interactions is essential.

Valdes, D. J. (ORCID:0000000304373720)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Characterization of Crystal Properties and Defects in CdZnTe Radiation Detectors

CdZnTe-based detectors are highly valued because of their high spectral resolution, which is an essential feature for nuclear medical imaging. However, this resolution is compromised when there are substantial defects in the CdZnTe crystals. In this study, we present a learning-based approach to determine the spatially dependent bulk properties and defects in semiconductor detectors. This characterization allows us to mitigate and compensate for the undesired effects caused by crystal impurities. We tested our model with computer-generated noise-free input data, where it showed excellent accuracy, achieving an average RMSE of 0.43% between the predicted and the ground truth crystal properties. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the effect of noisy data on the accuracy of the model.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Electron/hadron separation with the TRD based on GaAs pixel detectors

Transition Radiation Detectors (TRDs) are widely used for particle identification in both high-energy physics and astroparticle physics. They are typically equipped with gaseous detectors. The main limitation of these types of detectors is that TR photons and ionization losses cannot be decoupled, which significantly reduces the particle separation power. Recent advancements in the development of pixel detectors based on GaAs sensors offer a unique opportunity to effectively detect TR photons and separate them from ionization losses. Such detectors represent novel devices that combine precise tracking capabilities with particle identification (PID) properties. The present work is dedicated to an experimental study of particle identification properties of the TRD prototype based on 500 μ m-thick GaAs sensor bonded to a Timepix3 chip. Studies were performed at the CERN SPS and it was shown that at a particle momentum of 20 GeV/c, the probability of misidentifying a hadron as an electron is below 10 −2 for an electron detection efficiency of 98%–99%, and it is 1 . 6⋅10 −4 for electron detection efficiency of 90%. This performance surpasses the electron/hadron rejection power of all known TRDs by an order of magnitude for the same detector length.

GaAs detectors↗
DOE OSTI2026

The ePIC dual-radiator RICH detector

The dual radiator Ring Imaging Cherenkov (dRICH) detector is required to provide continuous hadron identification from ≈3 GeV/c up to ≈50 GeV/c, and to supplement electron and positron identification from a few hundred MeV/c up to about 15 GeV/c, in the forward (ion-side) end-cap of the ePIC experiment. Such an extended momentum range imposes the use of two radiators, gas and aerogel. The common imaging system, that ensures compactness and cost-effectiveness, is based on SiPM sensors to work in a high non-uniform magnetic field. During the R&D phase, the dual radiator principle and the single component performance have been validated. A status overview of the project is presented. The design and technological choices are discussed together with the results obtained from laboratory characterization of the component demonstrators and beam tests of the evolving prototypes.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Scintillator array for radiation detection

A radiation detector includes a photodetector and a scintillator coupled thereto. The scintillator is formed of a scintillator material comprising an organic glass scintillator (OGS) material and at least one of a polymer additive or a plasticizer additive. The scintillator emits light when radiation is received at the scintillator, and the light is received by the photodetector. The radiation detector can further include a frame that has an interior cavity that holds the scintillator in position with respect to the photodetector, such that the light emitted by the scintillator is transmitted to the photodetector. The scintillator can be formed by casting amorphous scintillator material in the interior cavity of the frame. The frame can then be coupled to the photodetector to form the radiation detector.

Carlson, Joseph↗