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US 4,785,168 AGranted
Device for detecting and localizing neutral particles, and application thereof
AssigneeEnertec
InventorsMario Ruscev, Irene Dorion, Alain-Pierre Lilot
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device for detecting and localizing neutral particles such as X photons, gamma photons or neutrons is essentially constituted by a solid converter (2) disposed at a glancing incidence relative to the radication to be detected, together with networks of wires such as (3') disposed in the proximity of the converter. The device is applicable to industrial imaging.
Claims33
A device for detecting and localizing neutral particles comprising:
- at least one sensor in the form of a gas-filled enclosure which is permeable to said neutral particles and which contains at least one converter capable of emitting ionizing particles under the impact of said neutral particles in order to give rise to charged particles by ionizing the gas, together with detecting means comprising charge multiplication means which are electrically polarized relative to said converter in such a manner as to attract said charged particles with sufficient force to give rise to an avalanche phenomenon, the device including the improvement wherein the particles propagating relative to said sensor following a predetermined average direction and the converter comprises a plate of solid material at an angle of less than 10.degree. to said average direction and wherein said detecting means comprise a network of electrically conductive elongate charge collecting means which are substantially parallel to one another and to the plate of the converter, and which are connected to circuits for forming a one-dimensional image corresponding to the distribution of neutral particle intensity along a direction perpendicular to the projection on the plane of the converter plate of said average direction of particle propagation.
A method of detecting and localizing neutral particles, comprising the steps of:
- propagating a flow of said neutral particles from a source thereof along a predetermined average direction;
- receiving a portion of said flow of neutral particles at a gas-filled sensor containing a converter plate inclined at less than 10.degree. to said average direction and emitting from said converter a corresponding flow of ionizing particles to generate charged particles of ionized gas;
- amplifying said flow of charged particles by charge multiplication means which are electrically polarized relative to said converter plate to attract said charged particles with sufficient force to give rise to an avalanche phenomenon;
- and
- detecting a distribution of charged particles along a direction perpendicular to a projection on a plane of said converter plate of an average direction of propagation of said neutral particles and generating a corresponding signal representative of a distribution of neutral particle intensity along said perpendicular direction.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.