High resolution position sensitive detector
First Claim
1. A position sensitive high resolution detector, said detector comprising as layersa scintillator,a microchannel plate amplifier array optically coupled to said scintillator and comprising a plurality of microchannels, each microchannel having a diameter substantially less than the resolution of said detector, and comprising a photocathode and a surface adapted to emit secondary electrons when bombarded with primary electrons,a layer comprising one or more sensor chips each adapted to receive electrons from said microchannel plate amplifier and comprisinga substrate, anda sensor array of anodes on said substrate, each anode adapted to change state in response to the emission of electrons from adjoining channels of said microchannel plate amplifier,said detector further comprising sensor electronics adapted to read out data indicative of the location of the anodes whose state has changed.
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Abstract
A high spatial resolution gamma ray detector employs layers of scintillators, microchannel photomultipliers and sensors arrays of anodes to provide real time imaging of nuclear sources. Specific embodiments include a camera for detecting nuclear weapons within opaque containers and a device for discriminating exoatmospheric reentry vehicles from decoys.
61 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A position sensitive high resolution detector, said detector comprising as layers
a scintillator, a microchannel plate amplifier array optically coupled to said scintillator and comprising a plurality of microchannels, each microchannel having a diameter substantially less than the resolution of said detector, and comprising a photocathode and a surface adapted to emit secondary electrons when bombarded with primary electrons, a layer comprising one or more sensor chips each adapted to receive electrons from said microchannel plate amplifier and comprising a substrate, and a sensor array of anodes on said substrate, each anode adapted to change state in response to the emission of electrons from adjoining channels of said microchannel plate amplifier, said detector further comprising sensor electronics adapted to read out data indicative of the location of the anodes whose state has changed.
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11. A position sensitive high resolution stacked detector, said stacked detector comprising a plurality of layers of subsensor assemblies each comprising as layers
a scintillator, a microchannel plate amplifier array optically coupled to said scintillator and comprising a plurality of microchannels, each microchannel having a diameter less than the resolution of said detector, and comprising a photocathode and a surface adapted to emit secondary electrons when bombarded with primary electrons, a layer comprising a plurality of sensor chips each adapted to receive electrons from said microchannel plate amplifier and comprising a substrate, and a sensor array of anodes on said substrate, each anode adapted to change state in response to the emission of electrons from adjoining channels of said microchannel plate amplifier, said detector further comprising sensor electronics adapted to read out data indicative of the location of the anodes whose state has changed, and said scintillators having a total thickness of at least about the attenuation length for gamma-rays traversing said individual scintillators.
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20. A high resolution gamma-ray camera for imaging a nuclear radiation source comprising
an aperture mask adapted to absorb or scatter gamma-rays not passing through apertures in said mask, and a position sensitive high resolution stacked detector, said stacked detector comprising a plurality of layers of subsensor assemblies each comprising as layers a scintillator, a microchannel plate amplifier array optically coupled to said scintillator and comprising a plurality of microchannels, each microchannel having a diameter less than the resolution of said detector, and comprising a photocathode and a surface adapted to emit secondary electrons when bombarded with primary electrons, a layer comprising a plurality of sensor chips each adapted to receive electrons from said microchannel plate amplifier and comprising a substrate, and a sensor array of anodes on said substrate, each anode adapted to change state in response to the emission of electrons from adjoining channels of said microchannel plate amplifier, said detector further comprising sensor electronics adapted to read out data indicative of the location of the anodes whose state has changed, and said scintillators having a total thickness of at least about the attenuation length for gamma-rays traversing said individual scintillators.
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33. A method for imaging at high resolution a source of radiation capable of producing photons in a scintillator comprising
passing said source of radiation into a scintillator, passing said photons into a portion of a microchannel plate amplifier comprising a plurality of microchannels each having a diameter substantially less than said resolution and thereby causing electrons to be emitted from said portion of microchannels, receiving the electrons from the microchannel plate amplifier on a portion of a sensor array of anodes on a substrate, whereby the state of said anodes that receive the electrons is changed, reading out data indicative of the location of the anodes whose state has changed and forming an image of the source from said data.
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38. The method of producing a high resolution image of a nuclear radiation source within an object comprising
causing gamma radiation from said source to fall on an aperture mask and passing gamma-rays through apertures in said mask passing said source of radiation into a stacked detector comprising a plurality of scintillators, passing photons from each of said scintillators into a portion of a microchannel plate amplifier associated with each scintillator, each microchannel plate comprising a plurality of microchannels having a diameter substantially less than said resolution and thereby causing electrons to be emitted from said portions of said microchannels, receiving the electrons from the respective microchannel plate amplifiers on a portion of a sensor array of anodes on a substrate associated with each scintillator, whereby the state of said anodes that receive the electrons is changed, reading out data indicative of the location of the anodes whose state has changed and forming an image of the source from said data.
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44. A position sensitive high resolution detector having processing electronics for a sensor array of anodes adapted to store data in response to an emission of electrons and to provide the data to an image recording means comprising
address polling electronics adapted to sequence through every anode and to provide signals identifying those anodes having data, readout electronics adapted to respond to said identifying signals from said address polling electronics and to provide an address for each anode having data, and output electronics adapted to provide to the image recording means the data from each anode corresponding to the address provided by said readout electronics.
Specification