Apparatus and method for non-invasive inspection of solid bodies by muon imaging

An apparatus for non-invasive inspection of solid bodies by muon imaging, comprising:

• a receiver (3) adapted to intercept Cherenkov radiation from a muon flux associated with cosmic rays passing through a portion of a body to be inspected;
• a sensor unit (4) adapted to detect the amount of Cherenkov radiation associated with the muon flux;
• electronic processing unit adapted to reconstruct energy and direction of the muon flux incident the portion of the body to be inspected to calculate the local density thereof;
• wherein said receiver (3) comprises an optical device (5) provided with at least one receiving surface (6) having reflecting and/or diffractive properties adapted to convey the Cherenkov radiation associated with muons toward said sensor unit (4), said sensor unit (4) comprising a multipixel detection chamber (8) adapted to provide an annular image of the muon having radius and position variable as a function of energy and direction of muon flux, and wherein said optical device (5) comprises double reflection and/or diffraction lenses with a secondary receiving surface (10) facing and aligned with said primary receiving surface (6) for transferring the flow of photons received by said primary receiving surface and for concentrating the flow of electrons towards said detection chamber (8) facing said secondary receiving surface (10).