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Stoffle NN, Campbell-Ricketts T, Castro A, Gaza R, Zeitlin C, George S, Abdelmelek M, Schram A. HERA: A Timepix-based radiation detection system for Exploration-class space missions. LIFE SCIENCES IN SPACE RESEARCH 2023; 39:59-66. [PMID: 37945090 DOI: 10.1016/j.lssr.2023.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
The Hybrid Electronic Radiation Assessor (HERA) system is a Timepix-based ionizing radiation detector built for NASA Exploration-class crewed missions. The HERA performs data analysis on-system and generates telemetry messages for ingestion, display, and relay by the spacecraft. Several iterations of the hardware have been flown aboard the International Space Station as payloads to test system operation and gain experience with the hardware in the space radiation environment. The HERA system and its payload operations are described, and data collected by the various HERA systems are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Ramona Gaza
- Leidos Inc., Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Cary Zeitlin
- Leidos Inc., Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Stuart George
- University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | | | - Aaron Schram
- CACI International Inc., Houston, TX, United States of America
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2
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Kroupa M, Campbell-Ricketts T, George SP, Bahadori AA, Pinsky LS. Particle showers detected on ISS in Timepix pixel detectors. LIFE SCIENCES IN SPACE RESEARCH 2023; 39:52-58. [PMID: 37945089 DOI: 10.1016/j.lssr.2023.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
We detect regular particle showers in several compact pixel detectors, distributed over the International Space Station. These showers are caused by high energy galactic cosmic rays, with energies often in the 10 s of TeV or higher. We survey the frequency of these events, their dependence on location on ISS, and their independence of the location of ISS, on its orbit. The Timepix detectors used allow individual particle tracks to be resolved, providing a possibility to perform physical analysis of shower events, which we demonstrate. In terms of radiation dosimetry, these showers indicate certain possible limitations of traditional dosimetric measures, in that (a) the dose measured in small sensor may be less than that received in a larger distribution of matter, such as a human and (b) the spatial and temporal extent of these events represents a regime of poorly documented biological response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kroupa
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545-0001, USA
| | - Thomas Campbell-Ricketts
- Leidos Corporation, Houston, TX 77258, USA; Space Radiation Analysis Group, NASA, JSC, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
| | - Stuart P George
- Space Radiation Analysis Group, NASA, JSC, Houston, TX 77058, USA; Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston, 3700 Calhoun, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Amir A Bahadori
- Alan Levin Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
| | - Lawrence S Pinsky
- Department of Physics, University of Houston, 3700 Calhoun, Houston, TX, USA
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Urban M, Nentvich O, Marek L, Hudec R, Sieger L. Timepix3: Temperature Influence on Radiation Energy Measurement with Si Sensor. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:s23042201. [PMID: 36850799 PMCID: PMC9960407 DOI: 10.3390/s23042201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
The Timepix3 readout ASIC chip is a hybrid pixelated radiation detector, designed at CERN, which contains a 256 px × 256 px matrix. Each of the 65,536 radiation-sensitive pixels can record an incoming particle, its energy deposition or time of arrival and measure them simultaneously. Since the detector is suitable for a wide range of applications from particle physics, national security and medicine to space science, it can be used in a wide range of temperatures. Until now, it has to be calibrated every time to the operating point of the application. This paper studies the possibility of energy measurement with Timepix3 equipped with a 500 m thick silicon sensor and MiniPIX readout interface in the temperatures between 10 ∘C and 70 ∘C with only one calibration. The detector has been irradiated by X-ray fluorescence photons in the energy range from 8 keV to 57 keV, and 31 keV to 81 keV photons from the 133Ba radioactive source. A deviation of 5% in apparent energy value may occur for a 10 ∘C change in temperature from the reference point, but, with the next temperature change, it can reach up to -30%. Moreover, Barium photons with an energy of 81 keV appear as deposited energy of only 55 keV at a detector temperature of 70 ∘C. An original compensation method that reduces the relative measurement error from -30% to less than 1% is presented in this paper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Urban
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, 166 27 Prague 6, Czech Republic
- Correspondence:
| | - Ondrej Nentvich
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, 166 27 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Lukas Marek
- Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, V Holesovickach 2, 180 00 Prague 8, Czech Republic
- Advacam, s.r.o., U Pergamenky 1145/12, 170 00 Prague 7 , Czech Republic
| | - Rene Hudec
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, 166 27 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Ladislav Sieger
- Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, 166 27 Prague 6, Czech Republic
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Jannis D, Hofer C, Gao C, Xie X, Béché A, Pennycook TJ, Verbeeck J. Event driven 4D STEM acquisition with a Timepix3 detector: Microsecond dwell time and faster scans for high precision and low dose applications. Ultramicroscopy 2022; 233:113423. [PMID: 34837737 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultramic.2021.113423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/31/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Four dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D STEM) records the scattering of electrons in a material in great detail. The benefits offered by 4D STEM are substantial, with the wealth of data it provides facilitating for instance high precision, high electron dose efficiency phase imaging via centre of mass or ptychography based analysis. However the requirement for a 2D image of the scattering to be recorded at each probe position has long placed a severe bottleneck on the speed at which 4D STEM can be performed. Recent advances in camera technology have greatly reduced this bottleneck, with the detection efficiency of direct electron detectors being especially well suited to the technique. However even the fastest frame driven pixelated detectors still significantly limit the scan speed which can be used in 4D STEM, making the resulting data susceptible to drift and hampering its use for low dose beam sensitive applications. Here we report the development of the use of an event driven Timepix3 direct electron camera that allows us to overcome this bottleneck and achieve 4D STEM dwell times down to 100 ns; orders of magnitude faster than what has been possible with frame based readout. We characterize the detector for different acceleration voltages and show that the method is especially well suited for low dose imaging and promises rich datasets without compromising dwell time when compared to conventional STEM imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Jannis
- EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium; NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - C Hofer
- EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium; NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - C Gao
- EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium; NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - X Xie
- EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium; NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - A Béché
- EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium; NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - T J Pennycook
- EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium; NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - J Verbeeck
- EMAT, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium; NANOlab Center of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium.
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Pinsky LS, Pospisil S. Timepix-based detectors in mixed-field charged-particle radiation dosimetry applications. RADIAT MEAS 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.radmeas.2019.106229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Smartphone and Tablet-Based Sensing of Environmental Radioactivity: Mobile Low-Cost Measurements for Monitoring, Citizen Science, and Educational Purposes. SENSORS 2019; 19:s19194264. [PMID: 31581431 PMCID: PMC6806277 DOI: 10.3390/s19194264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Revised: 09/25/2019] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Sensors for environmental radioactivity based on two novel setups using photodiodes, on the one hand, and an advanced tablet-based hybrid pixel detector, on the other hand, are presented. Measurements of four kinds of terrestrial and every-day radiation sources are carried out: Airborne radon, a mineral containing traces of uranium, edible potassium salt, and an old radium watch. These measurements permit comparisons between different types of ambient radioactive sources and enable environmental monitoring. Available data comprise discrimination between α- and β−-particles in an energy range of 33 keV to 8 MeV and under ambient air conditions. The diode-based sensor is particularly useful in portable applications since it is small and sturdy with little power consumption. It can be directly connected to a smartphone via the headset socket. For its development, the low-cost silicon positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes BPX61 and BPW34 have been characterised with capacitance versus voltage (C-V) curves. Physical detection limits for ionising radiation are discussed based on obtained depletion layer width: (50±8)μm at 8 V. The mobile and low-cost character of these sensors, as alternatives to Geiger counters or other advanced equipment, allows for a widespread use by individuals and citizen science groups for environmental and health protection purposes, or in educational settings. Source code and hardware design files are released under open source licenses with this publication.
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Bahadori AA, Pal Chowdhury R, Kroupa M, Campbell-Ricketts T, Firan A, Fry DJ, Gaza R, George SP, Pinsky LS, Stoffle NN, Rios RR, Zeitlin CJ. Slowing-down and stopped charged particles cause angular dependence for absorbed dose measurements. Radiat Phys Chem Oxf Engl 1993 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2018.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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