Search results for "PIXE"
showing 10 items of 428 documents
Calibration of the Solar-B x-ray optics
2005
The Solar-B X-ray telescope (XRT) is a grazing-incidence modified Wolter I X-ray telescope, of 35 cm inner diameter and 2.7 m focal length. XRT, designed for full sun imaging over the wavelength 6-60 Angstroms, will be the highest resolution solar X-Ray telescope ever flown. Images will be recorded by a 2048 X 2048 back-illuminated CCD with 13.5 μm pixels (1 arc-sec/pixel ) with full sun field of view. XRT will have a wide temperature sensitivity in order to observe and discriminate both the high (5-10 MK) and low temperature (1-5 MK) phenomena in the coronal plasma. This paper presents preliminary results of the XRT mirror calibration performed at the X-ray Calibration Facility, NASA-MSFC,…
The optical blocking filter for the ATHENA wide field imager: Ongoing activities towards the conceptual design
2015
ATHENA is the L2 mission selected by ESA to pursue the science theme "Hot and Energetic Universe" (launch scheduled in 2028). One of the key instruments of ATHENA is the Wide Field Imager (WFI) which will provide imaging in the 0.1-15 keV band over a 40'x40' large field of view, together with spectrally and time-resolved photon counting. The WFI camera, based on arrays of DEPFET active pixel sensors, is also sensitive to UV/Vis photons. Optically generated electron-hole pairs may degrade the spectral resolution as well as change the energy scale by introducing a signal offset. For this reason, the use of an X-ray transparent optical blocking filter is needed to allow the observation of all …
A mammographic phantom image reconstruction through Monte Carlo techniques
2005
Mammographic phantoms are employed during quality control test in breast screening locations and other health centres. These quality controls are performed to achieve the image quality required to detect breast abnormalities, ensuring the minimum risk to radiographied women. The aim of this study is the development of a methodology to reproduce the image of a mammogram during a routine exposure in a breast screening programme. In a first step, the CIRS 11A (MAMMO PHANTOM SP01) mammographic phantom has been simplified and modelled with the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP-4c2. Different tallies (F2 and F5) have been used to score the photon flux under the phantom, and a group of aluminium lay…
A two-dimensional liquid-filled ionization chamber array prototype for small-field verification: characterization and first clinical tests.
2012
In this work we present the design, characterization and first clinical tests of an in-house developed two-dimensional liquid-filled ionization chamber prototype for the verification of small radiotherapy fields and treatments containing such small fields as in radiosurgery, which consists of 2 mm × 2 mm pixels arranged on a 16×8 rectangular grid. The ionization medium is isooctane. The characterization of the device included the study of depth, field-size and dose-rate dependences, which are sufficiently moderate for a good operation at therapy radiation levels. However, the detector presents an important anisotropic response, up to ≃ 12% for front versus near-lateral incidence, which can …
Electrical Characterization of CdTe pixel detectors with Al Schottky anode
2014
Abstract Pixelated Schottky Al/p-CdTe/Pt detectors are very attractive devices for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic imaging, even though they suffer from bias-induced time instability (polarization). In this work, we present the results of the electrical characterization of a (4×4) pixelated Schottky Al/p-CdTe/Pt detector. Current–voltage ( I–V ) characteristics and current transients were investigated at different temperatures. The results show deep levels that play a dominant role in the charge transport mechanism. The conduction mechanism is dominated by the space charge limited current (SCLC) both under forward bias and at high reverse bias. Schottky barrier height of the Al/CdTe con…
Characterisation and mitigation of beam-induced backgrounds observed in the ATLAS detector during the 2011 proton-proton run
2013
This paper presents a summary of beam-induced backgrounds observed in the ATLAS detector and discusses methods to tag and remove background contaminated events in data. Triggerrate based monitoring of beam-related backgrounds is presented. The correlations of backgrounds with machine conditions, such as residual pressure in the beam-pipe, are discussed. Results from dedicated beam-background simulations are shown, and their qualitative agreement with data is evaluated. Data taken during the passage of unpaired, i.e. non-colliding, proton bunches is used to obtain background-enriched data samples. These are used to identify characteristic features of beam-induced backgrounds, which then are …
Energy Recovery of Multiple Charge Sharing Events in Room Temperature Semiconductor Pixel Detectors
2021
Multiple coincidence events from charge-sharing and fluorescent cross-talk are typical drawbacks in room-temperature semiconductor pixel detectors. The mitigation of these distortions in the measured energy spectra, using charge-sharing discrimination (CSD) and charge-sharing addition (CSA) techniques, is always a trade-off between counting efficiency and energy resolution. The energy recovery of multiple coincidence events is still challenging due to the presence of charge losses after CSA. In this work, we will present original techniques able to correct charge losses after CSA even when multiple pixels are involved. Sub-millimeter cadmium–zinc–telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) pixel detectors we…
A neural network clustering algorithm for the ATLAS silicon pixel detector
2014
A novel technique to identify and split clusters created by multiple charged particles in the ATLAS pixel detector using a set of artificial neural networks is presented. Such merged clusters are a common feature of tracks originating from highly energetic objects, such as jets. Neural networks are trained using Monte Carlo samples produced with a detailed detector simulation. This technique replaces the former clustering approach based on a connected component analysis and charge interpolation. The performance of the neural network splitting technique is quantified using data from proton-proton collisions at the LHC collected by the ATLAS detector in 2011 and from Monte Carlo simulations. …
Data quality monitors of vertex detectors at the start of the Belle II experiment
2019
The Belle II experiment features a substantial upgrade of the Belle detector and will operate at the SuperKEKB energy-asymmetric e+e− collider at KEK in Tsukuba, Japan. The accelerator completed its first phase of commissioning in 2016, and the Belle II detector saw its first electron-positron collisions in April 2018. Belle II features a newly designed silicon vertex detector based on double-sided strip layers and DEPFET pixel layers. A subset of the vertex detector was operated in 2018 to determine background conditions (Phase 2 operation). The collaboration completed full detector installation in January 2019, and the experiment started full data taking. This paper will report on the fin…
A Study for Cloud Parameter Retrieval from the IR Cloud Cameras of the AUGER Observatory
2009
The Pierre Auger Observatory operative in Argentina, studies the ultra-high energy cosmic rays with energies above 1018eV. The atmosphere is also monitored by a collection of different instruments. In this paper we present a study on the retrieval of the cloud coverage from the atmospheric monitoring data collected by the four IR cloud cameras placed in the sites of the Observatory. We discuss two different algorithms that supply pixel by pixel cloudiness information in the form of binary masks. The final objective of the study is collecting different algorithms to obtain a reliable set that allow to overcome most of the more frequent ambiguities due to particular cloud configurations and a…