CdMnTe in X-ray and Gamma-ray Detection: Potential Applications

CdMnTe can be a good candidate for gamma-ray detection because of its wide band-gap, high resistivity, and good electro-transport properties. Further, the ability to grow CMT crystals at relatively low temperatures ensures a high yield for manufacturing detectors with good compositional uniformity and few impurities. Our group at Brookhaven National Laboratory is investigating several CMT crystals, selecting a few of them to make detectors. In this paper, we discuss our initial characterization of these crystals and describe our preliminary results with a gamma-ray source

Effect of chemical etching on the surface roughness of CdZnTe and CdMnTe gamma radiation detectors

Generally, mechanical polishing is performed to diminish the cutting damage followed by chemical etching to remove the remaining damage on crystal surfaces. In this paper, we detail the findings from our study of the effects of various chemical treatments on the roughness of crystal surfaces. We prepared several CdZnTe (CZT) and CdMnTe (CMT) crystals by mechanical polishing with 5 {micro}m and/or lower grits of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} abrasive papers including final polishing with 0.05-{micro}m particle size alumina powder and then etched them for different periods with a 2%, 5% Bromine-Methanol (B-M) solution, and also with an E-solution (HNO{sub 3}:H{sub 2}O:Cr{sub 2}O{sub 7}). The material removal rate (etching rate) from the crystals was found to be 10 {micro}m, 30 {micro}m, and 15 {micro}m per minute, respectively. The roughness of the resulting surfaces was determined by the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to identify the most efficient surface processing method by combining mechanical and chemical polishing

Good electrical contacts for high resistivity (Cd,Mn)Te crystals

We consider that semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te crystals may well successfully replace the commonly used (Cd,Zn)Te crystals as a material for manufacturing large-area X- and gamma-ray detectors. The Bridgman growth method yields good quality and high-resistivity (10{sup 9}-10{sup 10} {Omega}-cm) crystals of (Cd,Mn)Te:V. Doping with vanadium ({approx} 10{sup 16} cm{sup -3}), which acts as a compensating agent, and annealing in cadmium vapors, which reduces the number of cadmium vacancies in the as-grown crystal, ensure this high resistivity. Detector applications of the crystals require satisfactory electrical contacts. Hence, we explored techniques of ensuring good electrical contacts to semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te crystals. Our findings are reported here. Before depositing the contact layers, we prepared an 'epi-ready' surface of the crystal platelet by a procedure described earlier for various tellurium-based II-VI compound crystals. A molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) apparatus was used to deposit various types of contact layers: Monocrystalline semiconductor layers, amorphous- and nanocrystalline semiconductor layers, and metal layers were studied. We employed ZnTe heavily doped ({approx} 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3}) with Sb, and CdTe heavily doped ({approx} 10{sup 17} cm{sup -3}) with In as the semiconductors to create contact layers that subsequently enable good contact (with a narrow, tunneling barrier) to the Au layer that usually is applied as the top contact layer. We describe and discuss the technology and some properties of the electrical contacts to semi-insulating (Cd,Mn)Te

Expression of genes for bone morphogenetic proteins BMP-2, BMP-4 and BMP-6 in various parts of the human skeleton

BACKGROUND: Differences in duration of bone healing in various parts of the human skeleton are common experience for orthopaedic surgeons. The reason for these differences is not obvious and not clear.METHODS: In this paper we decided to measure by the use of real-time RT-PCR technique the level of expression of genes for some isoforms of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), whose role is proven in bone formation, bone induction and bone turnover. Seven bone samples recovered from various parts of skeletons from six cadavers of young healthy men who died in traffic accidents were collected. Activity of genes for BMP-2, -4 and -6 was measured by the use of fluorescent SYBR Green I.RESULTS: It was found that expression of m-RNA for BMP-2 and BMP-4 is higher in trabecular bone in epiphyses of long bones, cranial flat bones and corpus mandibulae then in the compact bone of diaphyses of long bones. In all samples examined the expression of m-RNA for BMP-4 was higher than for BMP-2.CONCLUSION: It was shown that m-RNA for BMP-6 is not expressed in the collected samples at all. It is postulated that differences in the level of activation of genes for BMPs is one of the important factors which determine the differences in duration of bone healing of various parts of the human skeleton.Author has checked copyrightDG 16/11/1

Tellurium precipitates in (Cd,Mn)Te:V crystals: Effects of annealing

We suggest that (Cd,Mn)Te is a suitable material for fabricating gamma- and X-ray detectors. Our investigations, reported here, are focused on producing high-quality (Cd,Mn)Te crystals with high resistivity (10{sup 9} {Omega}-cm) by the Bridgman method. As-grown, undoped (Cd,Mn)Te crystals are typically p-type, signifying that they contain excess Cd vacancies (acting as acceptors), accumulated during growth. Doping with vanadium atoms, which function as compensating centers, results in a semi-insulating material (Cd,Mn)Te:V. Properly annealing the platelets in cadmium vapors at uniform temperature reduces the number of cadmium vacancies, and lowers the level of the vanadium doping required for compensation. We found that annealing in cadmium vapors not only decreases the concentration of the native cadmium vacancies but also improves the crystal's quality. Infrared observations of the interior of the samples show that annealing in a temperature gradient perpendicular to the platelet has an additional effect, viz., the tellurium precipitates migrate towards the side where the temperature is higher. We demonstrate, with IR pictures of monocrystalline (Cd,Mn)Te:V platelets cut parallel to the (111) crystal planes, the influence on tellurium inclusions and precipitates of various conditions of annealing in cadmium vapors

New prototype neuronavigation system based on preoperative imaging and intraoperative freehand ultrasound: system description and validation

Purpose: The aim of this report is to present IBIS (Interactive Brain Imaging System) NeuroNav, a new prototype neuronavigation system that has been developed in our research laboratory over the past decade that uses tracked intraoperative ultrasound to address surgical navigation issues related to brain shift. The unique feature of the system is its ability, when needed, to improve the initial patient-to-preoperative image alignment based on the intraoperative ultrasound data. Parts of IBIS Neuronav source code are now publicly available on-line. Methods: Four aspects of the system are characterized in this paper: the ultrasound probe calibration, the temporal calibration, the patient-to-image registration and the MRI-ultrasound registration. In order to characterize its real clinical precision and accuracy, the system was tested in a series of adult brain tumor cases. Results: Three metrics were computed to evaluate the precision and accuracy of the ultrasound calibration. 1) Reproducibility: 1.77 mm and 1.65 mm for the bottom corners of the ultrasound image, 2) point reconstruction precision 0.62-0.90 mm: and 3) point reconstruction accuracy: 0.49-0.74 mm. The temporal calibration error was estimated to be 0.82 ms. The mean fiducial registration error (FRE) of the homologous-point-based patient-to-MRI registration for our clinical data is 4.9 ± 1.1 mm. After the skin landmark-based registration, the mean misalignment between the ultrasound and MR images in the tumor region is 6.1 ± 3.4 mm. Conclusions: The components and functionality of a new prototype system are described and its precision and accuracy evaluated. It was found to have an accuracy similar to other comparable systems in the literature