Using CMOS Sensors in a Cellphone for Gamma Detection and Classification

Abstract

The CMOS camera found in many cellphones is sensitive to ionized electrons. Gamma rays penetrate into the phone and produce ionized electrons that are then detected by the camera. Thermal noise and other noise needs to be removed on the phone, which requires an algorithm that has relatively low memory and computational requirements. The continuous high-delta algorithm described fits those requirements. Only a small fraction of the energy of even the electron is deposited in the camera sensor, so direct methods of measuring the energy cannot be used. The fraction of groups of lit up pixels that are lines is correlated with the energy of the gamma rays. This correlation under certain conditions allows limited low resolution energy resolution to be performed