QBeRT: An innovative instrument for qualification of particle beam in real-time

This paper describes an innovative beam diagnostic and monitoring system composed of a position sensitive detector and a residual range detector, based on scintillating optical fiber and on an innovative read-out strategy and reconstruction algorithm. The position sensitive detector consists of four layers of pre-aligned and juxtaposed scintillating fibres arranged to form two identical overlying and orthogonal planes. The 500 μm square section fibres are optically coupled to two Silicon Photomultiplier arrays using a channel reduction system patented by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. The residual range detector is a stack of sixty parallel layers of the same fibres used in the position detector, each of which is optically coupled to a channel of Silicon Photomultiplier array by wavelength shifting fibres. The sensitive area of the two detectors is 9 × 9 cm2. After being fully characterized at CATANA proton therapy facility, the performance of the prototypes was tested during last year also at TIFPA proton irradiation facility. The unique feature of these detectors is the possibility to work in imaging conditions (e.g. a particle at a time up to 106 particles per second) and in therapy conditions up to 109 particles per second. The combined use of the two detectors, in imaging conditions, as an example of application, allows the particle radiography of an object. In therapy conditions, in particular, the system measures the position, the profiles, the energy and the fluence of the beam

Design and characterisation of a real time proton and carbon ion radiography system based on scintillating optical fibres

This paper describes the design and characterization of a charged particle imaging system composed of a position sensitive detector and residual range detector. The position detector consists of two identical overlying and orthogonal planes each of which consists of two layers of pre-aligned and juxtaposed scintillating fibres. The 500 μm square section fibres are optically coupled to two Silicon Photomultiplier arrays using a channel reduction system patented by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. The residual range detector consists of sixty parallel layers of the same fibres used in the position detector each of which is optically coupled to a Silicon Photomultiplier array by wavelength shifting fibres. The sensitive area of the two detectors is 9 × 9 cm 2. Characterising the position sensitive and the residual range detectors to reconstruct the radiography, is fundamental to validating the detectors’ designs. The proton radiography of a calibrated target in imaging conditions is presented. The spatial resolution of the position sensitive detector is about 150 μm and the range resolution is about 170 μm. The performance of the prototypes were tested at CATANA proton therapy facility (Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, Catania) with energy up to 58 MeV and rate of about 10^6 particles per second. The comparison between the simulations and measurements confirms the validity of this system

Silicon carbide detectors study for NUMEN project

In this contribution, we will illustrate the main results of the R&D activities related to the Silicon Carbide detectors associated with NUMEN project