• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권11호
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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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• 제55권5호
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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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• 제73권12호
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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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• 제55권2호
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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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• 제55권9호
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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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• 제55권10호
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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.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.661-666
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• 2019

확산형 콜리메이터는 촬영 대상을 축소 촬영하거나 넓은 관심영역을 작은 감마카메라를 사용하여 검출하기 위해서 사용한다. 확산형 콜리메이터와 블록형 섬광체 및 픽셀형 섬광체 배열을 사용하는 감마카메라에서 방사선원이 관심영역 주변에 위치할 때 섬광체 표면에 감마선이 대각선으로 입사하게 되면, 섬광체 깊이 방향으로 대각선으로 검출되기 때문에 공간 분해능이 저하된다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 관심영역 외곽에서의 공간 분해능을 향상하기 위한 새로운 시스템을 설계하였다. 사다리꼴 픽셀형 섬광체를 사용하여 각 섬광 픽셀을 콜리메이터 구멍의 각도와 크기에 맞게 일치하도록 구성하면, 감마선이 섬광체의 여러 깊이에서 반응하더라도, 하나의 섬광 픽셀 위치로 영상화 할 수 있다. 즉, 대각선 방향의 여러 지점에서 검출되더라도, 감마선은 하나의 섬광 픽셀과 상호 작용하기 때문에 공간 분해능의 저하가 발생하지 않는다. Geant4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) 시뮬레이션을 통해 블록형 섬광체를 사용한 감마카메라와 사다리꼴 픽셀형 섬광체를 사용한 감마카메라를 설계하여 공간 분해능을 비교 평가하였다. 관심영역 외곽에서 발생한 감마선을 통해 획득한 영상에서 공간 분해능은 블록형 섬광체를 사용한 감마카메라에서는 4.05 mm였고, 사다리꼴 픽셀형 섬광체를 사용한 감마카메라에서는 2.97 mm의 공간 분해능을 보였다. 사다리꼴 셀형 섬광체를 사용한 시스템에서 26.67% 공간 분해능이 향상됨을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권5호
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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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• 통권32호
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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.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제18권5호
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• pp.491-498
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• 2024

전임상용 양전자방출촬영기기(positron emission tomography; PET)는 촬영 대상이 매우 작은 동물이므로 우수한 공간분해능이 요구된다. 이를 달성하기 위해 미세한 섬광 픽셀을 사용하여 검출기를 구성한다. 본 연구에서는 이전 연구에서 수행한 동일한 광센서에서 영상화가 가능한 섬광 픽셀의 배열에서 섬광 픽셀의 바닥 면에 대한 다른 면 처리를 통해 섬광 픽셀 배열을 늘리고자 한다. 이를 위해 섬광체 내에서 빛의 모사가 가능한 DETECT2000을 사용하여 검출기를 설계하고, 시뮬레이션을 수행하였다. 11 × 11 배열에서부터 16 × 16 배열까지 검출기를 구성하였으며, 바닥 면을 매끈한 면(POLISH)과 거친 면(GROUND)으로 구성하여 평면 영상을 획득하였다. 그 결과 섬광 픽셀 배열이 확장될수록 POLISH 면보다 GROUND 면에서 섬광 픽셀 영상이 더 분리가 잘되는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 더욱이 GROUND 면에서는 16 × 16 배열에서도 모서리 영역의 섬광 픽셀 영상들의 정점이 분리되어 나타나 영상화된 것을 확인할 수 있었다.