70
Inexpensive,
Position Sensitive Tiled Photomultiplier Arrays for Cherenkov Counters--NanoSciences
Corporation, Hurley Farms Industrial Park, Building 3, 115 Hurley Road, Oxford,
CT 06478; 603-585-9252
Dr.
Jay Molstad, Principal Investigator, jmolstad@nanosciences.com
Dr.
John Steinbeck, Business Official, jsteinbeck@nanosciences.com
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-01ER83220
Amount:
$100,000
Cherenkov
radiation is commonly studied in nuclear and high energy physics because it
yields information about particles that are too fast to be seen by other means.
Cherenkov counters use large numbers of photomultiplier tubes, which are
expensive, bulky, and have poor spatial resolution. This project will develop low-cost square photomultipliers
that are suitable for large, tiled arrays.
The proposed devices, based on micromachined silicon microchannel plates,
are expected to have very little spurious signal and high spatial resolution.
In Phase I, a test photomultiplier will be constructed to demonstrate
noise reduction relative to a conventional microchannel photomultipliers (MCP)
photomultiplier. An appropriate
high-resolution imaging technique will be chosen for the Phase II effort.
Commercial Applications And Other Benefits as described by awardee: These photomultipliers are expected to find application in medical systems, particularly SPECT and PET imagers. Other uses include military nightvision systems, x-ray imagers and fiber optic communications are also envisaged.