Discrimination of photon from proton irradiation using glow curve feature extraction and vector analysis.

Two types of thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLDs), the Harshaw LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) and CaF(2):Tm (TLD-300) were investigated for their glow curve response to separate photon and proton irradiations. The TLDs were exposed to gamma irradiation from a (137)Cs source and proton irradiation using a positive ion accelerator. The glow curve peak structure for each individual TLD exposure was deconvolved to obtain peak height, width, and position. Simulated mixed-field glow curves were obtained by superposition of the experimentally obtained single field exposures. Feature vectors were composed of two kinds of features: those from deconvolution and those taken in the neighbourhood of several glow curve peaks. The inner product of the feature vectors was used to discriminate among the pure photon, pure proton and simulated mixed-field irradiations. In the pure cases, identification of radiation types is both straightforward and effective. Mixed-field discrimination did not succeed using deconvolution features, but the peak-neighbourhood features proved to discriminate reliably.

Glow curve analysis applied to the discrimination of X ray versus proton irradiation.

Three types of thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLDs): LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100), CaF2:Tm (TLD-300), and alpha-Al2O3:C (TLD-500), were investigated for their glow curve response to separate X ray and proton irradiations. The glow curve structure for each individual TLD's exposure to the X ray and proton irradiations was analysed and compared. Distinguishable differences between the glow curve structure characteristic of each type of radiation were observed. The proton TLD-100 glow curve has revealed a complex high-temperature peak structure that was used for the proton/X ray discrimination algorithm. Proton irradiation of TLD-300 resulted in an apparent switch in the relative heights of peaks 3 and 5 as compared to X ray. In TLD-500, proton irradiation produced a more subtle difference in the glow curve with an increase in the ratio between high- and low-temperature peaks. Results demonstrate promising differences in glow curve structure present allowing for discrimination between X ray and proton radiation field exposures.

Feasibility of a neutron detector-dosemeter based on single-event upsets in dynamic random-access memories.

The feasibility was investigated of a solid-state neutron detector/dosemeter based on single-event upset (SEU) effects in dynamic random-access memories (DRAMs), commonly used in computer memories. Such a device, which uses a neutron converter material to produce a charged particle capable of causing an upset, would be light-weight, low-power, and could be read simply by polling the memory for bit flips. It would have significant advantages over standard solid-state neutron dosemeters which require off-line processing for track etching and analysis. Previous efforts at developing an SEU neutron detector/dosemeter have suffered from poor response, which can be greatly enhanced by selecting a modern high-density DRAM chip for SEU sensitivity and by using a thin 10B film as a converter. Past attempts to use 10B were not successful because the average alpha particle energy was insufficient to penetrate to the sensitive region of the memory. This can be overcome by removing the surface passivation layer before depositing the 10B film or by implanting 10B directly into the chip. Previous experimental data show a 10(3) increase in neutron sensitivity by chips containing borosilicate glass, which could be used in an SEU detector. The results are presented of simulations showing that the absolute efficiency of an SEU neutron dosemeter can be increased by at least a factor of 1000 over earlier designs.