Band-bending in organic semiconductors: the role of alkali-halide interlayers.

Band-bending in organic semiconductors, occurring at metal/alkali-halide cathodes in organic-electronic devices, is experimentally revealed and electrostatically modeled. Metal-to-organic charge transfer through the insulator, rather than doping of the organic by alkali-metal ions, is identified as the origin of the observed band-bending, which is in contrast to the localized interface dipole occurring without the insulating buffer layer.

SU-E-T-158: Neutron Damage of Power Electronics Used during Image Guidance in Proton Therapy.

PURPOSE: A series of measurements were performed in a clinical proton therapy beam to assess the sensitivity of silicon-based electronics in commercial x-ray generators to single event burnout from the secondary neutron background in proton therapy treatments. METHODS: Failure rates were nondestructively measured in various metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) as a function of applied voltage using a dedicated test circuit board. Neutrons were produced by 230 MeV protons stopping in a brass beam target and high beam current was used to accelerate testing. Neutron fluences were measured by activation analysis of carbon and aluminum in both the test setup and in situ at the generator. Failure rates were determined by scaling results based on beam monitor output to the relevant neutron fluence rate. RESULTS: Current pulses from the test board clearly indicated the onset of single event burnout without destroying the MOSFET. The neutron fluence measured on the test board was 4.3 ± 0.8×106 n cm-2 MU-1 and this is consistent with previous measurements. The MOSFET failure rate decreased rapidly with a reduction in the applied voltage and is 20-30 times lower in higher-rated components at the same voltage. Under nominal operating conditions the estimated failure rate is tens of failures per year for a generator 6m from the treatment position. CONCLUSION: The sensitivity of x-ray generator power electronics to neutron-induced single-event burnout is significant and can affect the implementation of image-guided techniques for proton therapy. Strategies and system designs to mitigate this phenomenon are being investigated to help enable x-ray generators withstand the proton therapy environment. This research was supported by the NIH/NCI under grant number 6-PO1 CA 21239.

SU-E-I-25: Performance Evaluation of a Proposed CMOS-Based X-Ray Detector Using Linear Cascade Model Analysis.

PURPOSE: The need for high-resolution, dynamic x-ray imaging capability for neurovascular applications has put an ever increasing demand on x-ray detector technology. Present state-of-the-art detectors such as flat panels have limited resolution and noise performance. A linear cascade model analysis was used to estimate the theoretical performance for a proposed CMOS-based detector. METHODS: The proposed CMOS-based detector was assumed to have a 300-micron thick HL type CsI phosphor, 35-micron pixels, a variable gain light image intensifier (LU), and 400 electron readout noise. The proposed detector has a CMOS sensor coupled to an LII which views the output of the CsI phosphor. For the analysis the whole imaging chain was divided into individual stages characterized by one of the basic processes (stochastic/deterministic blurring, binomial selection, quantum gain, additive noise). Standard linear cascade modeling was used for the propagation of signal and noise through the stages and an RQA5 spectrum was assumed. The gain, blurring or transmission of different stages was either measured or taken from manufacturer's specifications. The theoretically calculated MTF and DQE for the proposed detector were compared with a high-resolution, high-sensitive Micro-Angio Fluoroscope (MAF), predecessor of the proposed detector. RESULTS: Signal and noise for each of the 19 stages in the complete imaging chain were calculated and showed improved performance. For example, at 5 cycles/mm the MTF and DQE were 0.08 and 0.28, respectively, for the CMOS detector compared to 0.05 and 0.07 for the MAF detector. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed detector will have improved MTF and DQE and slimmer physical dimension due to the elimination of the large fiber-optic taper used in the MAF. Once operational, the proposed CMOS detector will serve as a further improvement over standard flat panel detectors compared to the MAF which is already receiving a very positive reception by neuro-vascular interventionalists. (Support:NIH-Grant R01EB002873) NIH Grants R01- EB008425, R01-EB002873 and an equipment grant from Toshiba Medical Systems Corp.

WE-G-218-02: The Measurement of Absorbed Dose to Active Intravenous Cardiac Devices in Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy departments are seeing an increasing number of patients presenting for treatment with active intravenous cardiac devices (AICDs). This is due to an increasing aging population and technology advances in these devices. The AAPM TG-34 addressed the radiation effects in these devices and provided recommendations for patients with these devices undergoing radiotherapy. The current devices utilizing CMOS technology are more sensitive to radiation then the older bipolar devices. Therefore, it is important to estimate the dose to the device to ensure that the radiation does not adversely affect the performance of the device. This is particularly important for patients dependent on their accurate functioning. The dose to the device is generally from secondary radiation and is typically below 0.05 Gy with most of it coming from lower energy scatter radiation. Treatment planning systems can be used to estimate the dose to the device. However, these systems do not accurately calculate doses at distances more than 2-3 cm from the field edge. For these out-of-field dose measurements the dosimeter requires a high sensitivity and a relatively flat energy response. Thermoluminescent detectors and optically stimulated luminescent detectors satisfy these requirements and they are relatively unobtrusive. The newer formulations of radiochromic film with higher sensitivity can also be used. The detector should be place under 0.5 to 1.0 cm of bolus to minimize the contaminating head-scatter electrons provide a more realistic measurement of the dose to the device. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 1. List the reasons for estimating the dose to the AICDs 2. Provide a discussion on the various methods which include calculations and measurements to estimate the dose to the device as well as the uncertainties in these estimates. 3. Identify detectors that satisfy the requirements for these in-vivo out-of-field dose measurements as well as describe the appropriate correction factors to apply for accurate dose measurements.