• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.11
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• pp.2572-2580
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• 2020

Emerging gamma ray detection applications that utilize neutron-based interrogation result in the prompt emission of high-energy (>2 MeV) gamma-rays. Rapid imaging is enabled by scintillators that possess high density, high atomic number, and excellent energy resolution. In this paper, we evaluate the bright (50,000 photons/MeV) oxide scintillator, cerium-doped Gd₂Al₂Ga₃O₁₂ (GAGG(Ce)). A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array is coupled to a GAGG(Ce) scintillator array (12 × 12 pixels) and integrated into a coded-aperture based gamma-ray imaging system. A resistor-based symmetric charge division circuit was used reduce the multiplicity of the analog outputs from 144 to 4. The developed system exhibits 9.1%, 8.3%, and 8.0% FWHM energy resolutions at 511 keV, 662 keV, and 1173.2 keV, respectively. In addition, a pixel-identification resolution of 602 ㎛ FWHM was obtained from the GAGG(Ce) scintillator array.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1677-1686
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• 2023

As the demand for the detection of special nuclear materials (SNMs) increases, the use of imaging instruments that can sensitively image both gamma-ray and neutron signatures has become necessary. This study compared the pulse shape discrimination (PSD) performance of gamma/neutron events when employing either a pixelated stilbene or a plastic (EJ-276) scintillator array coupled to a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array in a dual-particle imager. The stilbene array allowed a lower energy threshold above which neutron and gamma-ray events can be clearly distinguished. A greater number of events can, therefore, be used when forming both gamma-ray and neutron images, which shortens the time required to acquire the images by nearly seven times.

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• v.73 no.12
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• pp.1904-1907
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• 2018

We designed a depth-encoding positron emission tomography (PET) detector by using a bottom and side readout method with a cross-arranged scintillator array. To evaluate the characteristics of the novel detector module, we used the DETECT2000 simulation tool to perform the optical photon transport in the crystal array. The detector module consists of an $M(column){\times}N(row)$ cross-arranged crystal array composed of M/3 sub-arrays consisting of $N{\times}3$ crystals. The second column of the sub-array is arranged perpendicular to the first and the third columns. The crystal is optically coupled to the crystals of the other columns; however, the surfaces between the crystals in the same column are treated as reflectors. A $6{\times}5$ crystal array consisting of two sub-arrays was considered for proof of concept. The two multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) arrays are coupled to the bottom and one side of the crystal array, respectively. The x-y position is determined by the bottom MPPC array, and the side MPPC array gives depth information. All pixels in the x-y plane and the z direction were clearly distinguished.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.648-654
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• 2023

A dual-particle imager (DPI) is configured in a hand-held form factor, then one can efficiently and conveniently deploy the DPI to detect the presence of special nuclear materials (SNM) and identify any isotopic variations that differ from their natural abundances. Here we show that by maximizing the areal coupling between a pixelated scintillator array and the partitioned photosensor readout such as a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM), the information utilization of the gamma-ray and neutron information in the radiation field can be enhanced, thus enabling one to rapidly acquire spatial maps of the distributions on gamma-ray and neutron emitters.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.9
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• pp.3206-3212
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• 2023

We developed a miniaturized multi-dimensional radiation sensor system consisting of an inorganic scintillator array and plastic optical fibers. This system can be applied to remotely obtain the radioactivity distribution and identify the radionuclides in radioactive waste by utilizing a scanning method. Variation in scintillation light was measured in two-dimensional regions of interest and then converted into radioactivity distribution images. Outliers present in the images were removed by using a digital filter to make the hot spot location more accurate and cubic interpolation was applied to make the images smoother and clearer. Next, gamma-ray spectroscopy was performed to identify the radionuclides, and three-dimensional volume scanning was also performed to effectively find the hot spot using the proposed array sensor.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.10
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• pp.3907-3912
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• 2023

Radiation portal monitors (RPMs) installed at airports and harbors to prevent illicit trafficking of radioactive materials generally use large plastic scintillators. However, their energy resolution is poor and radionuclide identification is nearly unfeasible. In this study, to improve isotope identification, a RPM system based on a multi-array plastic scintillator and convolutional neural network (CNN) was evaluated by measuring the spectra of radioactive sources. A multi-array plastic scintillator comprising an assembly of 14 hexagonal scintillators was fabricated within an area of 50 × 100 cm². The energy spectra of ¹³⁷Cs, ⁶⁰Co, ²²⁶Ra, and ⁴K (KCl) were measured at speeds of 10-30 km/h, respectively, and an energy-weighted algorithm was applied. For the CNN, 700 and 300 spectral images were used as training and testing images, respectively. Compared to the conventional plastic scintillator, the multi-arrayed detector showed a high collection probability of the optical photons generated inside. A Compton maximum peak was observed for four moving radiation sources, and the CNN-based classification results showed that at least 70% was discriminated. Under the speed condition, the spectral fluctuations were higher than those under dwelling condition. However, the machine learning results demonstrated that a considerably high level of nuclide discrimination was possible under source movement conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.661-666
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• 2019

Diverging collimators is used to obtain reduced images of an object, or to detect a wide filed-of-view (FOV) using a small gamma camera. In the gamma camera using the diverging collimators, the block scintillator, and the pixel scintillator array, gamma rays are obliquely incident on the scintillator surface when the source is located the periphery of the FOV. Therefore, the spatial resolution is reduced because it is obliquely detected in depth direction. In this study, we designed a novel system to improve the spatial resolution in the periphery of the FOV. Using a tapered crystal array to configure the scintillation pixels to coincide with the angle of the collimator's hole allows imaging to one scintillation pixel location, even if events occur to different depths. That is, even if is detected at various points in the diagonal direction, the gamma rays interact with one crystal pixel, so resolution does not degrade. The resolution of the block scintillator and the tapered crystal array was compared and evaluated through Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) simulation. The spatial resolution of the obtained image was 4.05 mm in the block scintillator and 2.97 mm in the tapered crystal array. There was a 26.67% spatial resolution improvement in the tapered crystal array compared to the block scintillation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1760-1768
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• 2022

When gamma-camera sensor modules, which are key components of radiation imagers, are derived from the coupling between scintillators and photosensors, the light collection efficiency is an important factor in determining the effectiveness with which the instrument can identify nuclides via their derived gamma-ray spectra. If the pixel area of the scintillator is larger than the pixel area of the photosensor, light loss and cross-talk between pixels of the photosensor can result in information loss, thereby degrading the precision of the energy estimate and the accuracy of the position-of-interaction determination derived from each active pixel in a coded-aperture based gamma camera. Here we present two methods to overcome the information loss associated with the loss of photons created by scintillation pixels that are coupled to an associated silicon photomultiplier pixel. Specifically, we detail the use of either: (1) light guides, or (2) scintillation pixel areas that match the area of the SiPM pixel. Compared with scintillator/SiPM couplings that have slightly mismatched intercept areas, the experimental results show that both methods substantially improve both the energy and spatial resolution by increasing light collection efficiency, but in terms of the image sensitivity and image quality, only slight improvements are accrued.

• 연구논문집
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• s.32
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• pp.65-76
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• 2002

The intensity of x-ray or gamma-ray is attenuated according to density and thickness of the transmitted medium. In this study, by using this principle, on-line real-time radiometric system was developed using a 128 channels linear array of solid state detectors to measure wall thickness of insulated piping system. This system uses a Ir-192 as a gamma ray source and detector is composed of BGO scintillator and photodiode. Ir-192 gamma ray source and linear detector array mounted on a computer controlled robotic crawler. The Ir-192 gamma ray source is located on one side of the piping components and the detector array on the other side. The individual detectors of the detector array measure the intensity of the gamma rays after passing through the walls and the insulation of the piping component under measurement. The output of the detector array is amplified by amplifier and transmitted to the computer. This system collects and analyses the data from the detector array in real-time. The maximum measurable length of pipe is 120cm/mm. in the case of 1mm scanning interval.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.491-498
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• 2024

Preclinical positron emission tomography (PET) requires excellent spatial resolution because the subject of imaging is a very small animal. To achieve this, a detector is configured using fine scintillation pixels. In this study, we aim to increase the scintillation pixel array by processing the bottom surface of the scintillation pixels differently from the array of scintillation pixels that can be imaged in the same photosensor performed in the previous study. To this end, we designed a detector using DETECT2000, which can simulate light in the scintillator, and performed a simulation. The detector was configured from an 11 × 11 array to a 16 × 16 array, and the bottom surface was configured as a polished surface (POLISH) and a rough surface (GROUND) to obtain a flood image. As a result, it was confirmed that the scintillation pixel images were better separated on the GROUND surface than on the POLISH surface as the scintillation pixel array expanded. Furthermore, on the GROUND surface, it was confirmed that the peaks of the scintillation pixel images in the corner area were separated and imaged even in the 16 × 16 array.