Explore the vast range of titles available.

This book addresses the fundamental principles of interaction between radiation and matter, the principles of working and the operation of particle detectors based on silicon solid state devices. It covers a broad scope in the fields of application of radiation detectors based on silicon solid state devices from low to high energy physics experiments, including in outer space and in the medical environment. This book also covers state-of-the-art detection techniques in the use of radiation detectors based on silicon solid state devices and their readout electronics, including the latest developments on pixelated silicon radiation detector and their application. The content and coverage of the book benefit from the extensive experience of the two authors who have made significant contributions as researchers as well as in teaching physics students in various universities.

We report the first‐time measurement of the electron‐hole pair (ehp) creation energy (Wehp) in novel Cd0.9Zn0.1Te0.98Se0.02 (CZTS) quaternary semiconductor. CZTS in single crystalline form is poised to be the future of large‐volume room‐temperature gamma‐ray detectors due to its excellent compositional homogeneity with highly reduced defects, high‐Z (atomic number) constituents, wide bandgap (1.6 eV), and superior charge transport properties. Despite a great deal of study of the material and device properties since its inception, the Wehp in CZTS has not been measured experimentally. Accurate determination of Wehp is essential for calibration of the spectrometer and other theoretical calculations. In this study we have used an absolute calibration approach, which is based on an iterative approach that yields the Wehp as the best‐fit parameter. Using a 241Am alpha emitting radioisotope and a planar CZTS detector, the Wehp in CZTS was calculated to be 4.47 eV. The obtained value has been validated by accurately predicting the peak energy for gamma rays emitted by a 137Cs source and read by a CZTS detector with different dimensions. The dependences of the calculated Wehp value on the detector dimensions, type of interaction, and effect of charge trapping are also discussed. The first measurement of the electron‐hole pair (ehp) creation energy (Wehp) in novel CdZnTeSe (CZTS) quaternary semiconductor has been reported. Accurate determination of Wehp is essential for calibration of the nuclear spectrometers and other theoretical calculations. In this study an absolute calibration approach, which is based on an iterative approach, yielded the Wehp as the best‐fit parameter. Using a Am‐241 alpha emitting radioisotope and a planar CZTS detector, the Wehp in CZTS was calculated to be 4.47 eV.

Hybrid infrared (IR) focal plane arrays consist of an array of IR photo-detectors, bump-bonded to a silicon CMOS readout integrated circuit (ROIC) chip. Design and optimisation of ROIC for quantum dot IR detectors is a multidimensional problem. The major design challenge is to select appropriate readout circuit topology to meet the large dynamic range requirement of quantum dot IR photo-detectors within the area dictated by the matched pixel size. Proposed is an efficient design optimisation for ROIC. The optimisation is based on a proposed decision matrix, which leads to a decision merit for ROIC design. Four main specifications, i.e. charge handling capacity, noise, power dissipation and detector bias voltage variations, have been considered. Various architectures have been compared using circuit design, simulation and implementation. The targeted ROIC specifications for a test chip containing a 4 × 4 array are: 5 Mē charge handling capacity, 30 × 30 µm maximum pixel size, snapshot mode of operation, variable integration time, 5 megapixels/s (Mpps) readout rate and readout noise of 600ē at ambient temperature. Also presented is a design with 5 Mē charge handling capacity, which has not been reported for 180 nm CMOS process earlier.

Neutron detection systems have primarily relied on ^sup 3^He gas proportional counters. These detect charged protons indirectly generated during thermal neutron capture. These have a number of drawbacks including high cost and, more critically, a dwindling supply of ^sup 3^He gas. To address this need, as well as the need for large-area and low-priced neutron detectors, a team from Arizona State University, has been looking at a technology that has enabled low-cost manufacturing of 'flatscreen' televisions -- thin film transistors (TFT). Their focus was to develop a low-cost neutron detector that can be manufactured using large area flat panel display TFT-based technology. This is important because, in typical cargo inspection applications, increasing the size of the detector proportionally increases the probability of detection.

In this work, the relation between building materials and radon indoor pollution is evaluated. The relation is performed by non-invasive monitoring of buildings made of different materials. The work is part of a wider monitoring in progress in the Calabria Region (Southern Italy). The area under investigation is San Giovanni in Fiore (CS) located in the Sila upland plain. An annual non-invasive monitoring is carried out on many buildings of the Sila area, with reference to their different building materials. A nuclear track detector has been used (Solid State Nuclear Track Detector). The results obtained underline that the buildings made of local granite have greater indoor radon concentrations. The local granitic rocks, representative of the geological area, have been analysed by gamma spectrometry involving a Canberra system HPGe fixed detector cooled by liquid nitrogen high radio-emission values of standard radionuclides such as 226Ra, 232Th and 40K.

A research contribution focusing on the Quantum Key Distribution (QKD)-enabled solutions assisting in the security framework of an optical 5G fronthaul segment is presented. We thoroughly investigate the integration of a BB84-QKD link, operating at telecom band, delivering quantum keys for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)-256 encryption engines of a packetized fronthaul layer interconnecting multiple 5G terminal nodes. Secure Key Rate calculations are studied for both dedicated and shared fiber configurations to identify the attack surface of AES-encrypted data links in each deployment scenario. We also propose a converged fiber-wireless scenario, exploiting a mesh networking extension operated by mmWave wireless links. In addition to the quantum layer performance, emphasis is placed on the strict requirements of 5G-oriented optical edge segments, such as the latency and the availability of quantum keys. We find that for the dark fiber case, secret keys can be distilled at fiber lengths much longer than the maximum fiber fronthaul distance corresponding to the round-trip latency barrier, for both P2P and P2MP topologies. On the contrary, the inelastic Raman scattering makes the simultaneous transmission of quantum and classical signals much more challenging. To counteract the contamination of noise photons, a resilient classical/QKD coexistence scheme is adopted. Motivated by the recent advancements in quantum technology roadmap, our analysis aims to introduce the QKD blocks as a pillar of the quantum-safe security framework of the 5G/B5G-oriented fronthaul infrastructure.

This book is a collection of articles on Physics with Trapped Charged Particles by speakers at the Les Houches Winter School. The articles cover all types of physics with charged particles, and are aimed at introducing the basic issues at hand, as well as the latest developments in the field. It is appropriate for PhD students and early career researchers, or interested parties new to the area.

Scintillation materials and detectors that are used in many applications, such as medical imaging, security, oil-logging, high energy physics and non-destructive inspection, are reviewed. The fundamental physics understood today is explained, and common scintillators and scintillation detectors are introduced. The properties explained here are light yield, energy non-proportionality, emission wavelength, energy resolution, decay time, effective atomic number and timing resolution. For further understanding, the emission mechanisms of scintillator materials are also introduced. Furthermore, unresolved problems in scintillation phenomenon are considered, and my recent interpretations are discussed. These topics include positive hysteresis, the co-doping of non-luminescent ions, the introduction of an aimed impurity phase, the excitation density effect and the complementary relationship between scintillators and storage phosphors.

Transparent crystalline yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG; Y 3 Al 5 O 12 ) is a dominant host material used in phosphors, scintillators, and solid state lasers. However, YAG single crystals and transparent ceramics face several technological limitations including complex, time-consuming, and costly synthetic approaches. Here we report facile elaboration of transparent YAG-based ceramics by pressureless nano-crystallization of Y 2 O 3 –Al 2 O 3 bulk glasses. The resulting ceramics present a nanostructuration composed of YAG nanocrystals (77 wt%) separated by small Al 2 O 3 crystalline domains (23 wt%). The hardness of these YAG-Al 2 O 3 nanoceramics is 10% higher than that of YAG single crystals. When doped by Ce 3+ , the YAG-Al 2 O 3 ceramics show a 87.5% quantum efficiency. The combination of these mechanical and optical properties, coupled with their simple, economical, and innovative preparation method, could drive the development of technologically relevant materials with potential applications in wide optical fields such as scintillators, lenses, gem stones, and phosphor converters in high-power white-light LED and laser diode. Transparent YAG crystals are ubiquitous in phosphors, scintillators and lasers, but are complex and costly to make. Here, the authors use a one-step pressureless crystallization of bulk glass to make a transparent biphasic YAG nanoceramic that can be doped for optical applications.