A new radiation imaging system based on three dimensional photonic waveguide

2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 16560737
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Nuclear engineering
• Research Institution: Toyama National College of Technology
• Principal Investigator: TAKADA Eiji Toyama National College of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering, Associate Professor, 電気工学科, 助教授 (00270885)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KURODA Hirofumi Toyama National College of Technology, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Associate Professor, 物質工学科, 助教授 (10290735) ; TAKEDA Fumio Toyama National College of Technology, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Professor, 電気工学科, 教授 (20042814) ; KAWARABAYASHI Jun Nagoya University, Graduate School of Engineering, Associate Professor, 大学院・工学研究科, 助教授 (80283414)
• Project Period (FY): 2004 – 2005
• Keywords: Radiation / Imaging / Waveguide / Beta rays / Optical fiber / Scintillator

Research Abstract

High-resolution radiation imaging is desired in a variety of fields, including material science and medical diagnostics. The researchers propose a new radiation imaging system with a gridded scintillating device. The scintillator resin was polymerized in a metal grid. Scintillation photons can transmit in two directions along the grid channels which serve as waveguides. They are then collected by clear optical fibers placed at the ends. To evaluate the imaging capability, measurements with a 90Sr/90Y beta source were carried out. The pitch of the scintillator was set to 1.0 mm and the width of the wall was 0.2 mm. A 10-mm thick aluminum plate with a 1-mm diameter hole collimated the beta rays. It was demonstrated that this structure can measure two-dimensional radiation distributions. The FWHM of the measured distribution was less than 2mm in both directions. A simulation code to calculate the scintillation photon distributions along the device has been developped. It has been shown that the simulated and measured results coincide fairly well.
The current system is for evaluating the fundamental possibility of this gridded scintillator as a two dimensional waveguide. As the current system uses the plastic scintillator resin, measuring efficiency for gamma and neutrons is small. By combining a commercial scintillator plate and a grid structure with polymerized wavelength shifting resin, we can enhance the sensitivity to these types of radiation.