宇宙线缪子散射成像模拟与算法研究

本文验证了基于Micromegas探测器的宇宙线缪子散射成像系统进行快速核材料检测的可行性,并对实验室宇宙线缪子成像系统原型进行参数估算。基于Geant4程序开发了用于模拟宇宙线缪子物理过程、传输径迹及Micromegas探测器响应的模拟程序。在模拟数据的基础上,实现并改进了两种主要的宇宙线缪子散射成像算法。根据模拟和成像结果,1 m×1 m成像系统可在10 min内检测到被重元素屏蔽的核材料。10 cm×10 cm成像系统的缪子事例触发率为0.16 s~(-1),要获得较为清晰的成像结果,要求探测器位置分辨率达到300μm,探测器增益为1 000时实际测量事例至少需要20 h。     

大面积MRPC宇宙线缪子成像原型装置的研制

大面积位置灵敏探测器阵列是宇宙线缪子散射成像系统的关键部分。研发了适用于研制的73.6 cm×73.6 cm大面积二维读出位置灵敏MRPC探测器上的双精细复用读出电子学,构建了一个包括上下2组、每组各3块大面积MRPC的宇宙线缪子散射成像原型实验装置。该装置通过上下两块塑料闪烁体进行触发,实验数据经过处理后能重建缪子径迹,采用PoCA图像重建算法,获得了散射成像实验图像,结果与蒙特卡罗理论模拟结果相一致,为进一步研究宇宙线缪子成像物理机制、成像算法等提供了良好的实验平台。     

反应堆宇宙线缪子成像蒙特卡罗模拟研究

宇宙线缪子成像可对第二代反应堆压水堆(PWR)堆芯进行成像,即使在严重核事故下,常规方法无法监测时,仍可探知堆芯状态,了解堆芯情况。论文基于PWR主要结构参数建立详细的模拟模型,通过Geant4程序进行模拟,对反应堆堆芯进行图像重建,并对图像进行降噪处理。研究结果表明,宇宙线缪子可对堆芯高Z材料成像,核燃料轮廓清晰可见,利用大角度宇宙线缪子对PWR堆芯进行成像、对堆芯状态进行监控的方法可行。若要实现这种方法,使用多个8 m×8 m的大面积位置灵敏探测器,在3个月内可以实现。     

缪子成像系统中二维位置分辨探测器研制

介绍了一种应用于缪子成像系统的新型二维高位置分辨探测器,MRPC探测器的有效面积为1 072 mm×1 072 mm,先后对探测器在宇宙线和X射线下测试其性能,结果表明探测效率高于98%,位置分辨好于272μm。     

应用于PandaX-Ⅲ实验探测器测试平台的Bulk Micromegas性能研究

探测无中微子双贝塔衰变的PandaX-Ⅲ实验需要一个能同时对多个Micromegas探测器的增益、能量分辨、坏道分布、位置分辨等性能参数进行测试的平台，为此中国原子能科学研究院建立了PandaX-Ⅲ实验探测器测试平台。本文采用由光蚀刻技术制作的Bulk Micromegas对该测试平台进行研究：利用⁵⁵Fe放射源在Ar+10%CO₂的流气情况下，使用基于AGET读出芯片制作的通用读出电子学进行数据采集；运用C++与ROOT软件库编写相应的后端数据分析软件，并对数据进行了分析。测试结果表明，PandaX-Ⅲ实验探测器测试平台各系统工作状态良好，应用于测试平台的Bulk Micromegas探测器具有良好的信噪比，X射线成像效果清晰，对5.9 keV X射线的能量分辨率为19.7%。     

10 cm×10 cm Bulk Micromegas探测器的研制

Bulk Micromegas探测器是一种新型微结构气体探测器。利用光蚀刻技术制作了有效面积为10 cm×10 cm的多通道Bulk Micromegas探测器。对探测器的各通道进行了电容测试，显示探测器具有较好的均匀性。在Ar+10%CO₂气体中，使用⁵⁵Fe放射源和自主研制的基于APV25前端卡的数字化电子学，对制作的有效面积为10 cm×10 cm的探测器进行了测试，其结果显示探测器性能良好，能得到清晰的二维事件分布图。该探测器目前全部工艺国产化，并能进行批量生产，成品率接近100%。     

缪子对小尺寸中低原子序数物质三维成像技术的模拟研究

缪子成像是一种利用天然本底辐射中极具穿透力的缪子射线通过散射或透射技术对高原子序数Z或隐藏物体进行无损成像的技术。当前的研究对象是大尺寸的高Z物质,而针对小尺寸的中低Z物质的成像技术在国内鲜见报道。本文提出了一种针对小尺寸中低Z物质的三维成像技术,利用Geant4软件模拟了缪致次级粒子的产生过程,模拟结果表明次级粒子主要为电子和γ光子,通过缪致次级粒子与入射缪子符合探测技术筛选入射缪子径迹,利用有限角度成像算法对待测物体进行了三维图像重建,结果表明,该技术适合于小尺寸的中低Z物质成像,尤其对小尺寸中Z物质的重建效果明显,重建图像可区分08 cm的凹槽。     

宇宙射线缪子核材料快速检测算法研究

根据宇宙射线缪子库伦散射角进行核材料快速检测具有重要意义。本文利用Geant4获取的U、Pb、Fe的缪子库伦散射角数据集，分析缪子散射探测数据的分布特征。使用支持向量机测试了缪子散射探测数据的概率分布函数参数和峭度对不同材料分类的性能，提出基于分布特征的宇宙射线缪子核材料快速检测算法。结果表明，该算法仅用数量为10 000的缪子散射探测数据，能实现对相同厚度的U、Pb、Fe的分类，分类准确率达到989%以上。     

应用于PandaX-Ⅲ实验探测器测试平台的Bulk Micromegas性能研究

探测无中微子双贝塔衰变的PandaX-Ⅲ实验需要一个能同时对多个Micromegas探测器的增益、能量分辨、坏道分布、位置分辨等性能参数进行测试的平台,为此中国原子能科学研究院建立了PandaX-Ⅲ实验探测器测试平台。本文采用由光蚀刻技术制作的Bulk Micromegas对该测试平台进行研究:利用~(55)Fe放射源在Ar+10%CO_2的流气情况下,使用基于AGET读出芯片制作的通用读出电子学进行数据采集;运用C++与ROOT软件库编写相应的后端数据分析软件,并对数据进行了分析。测试结果表明,PandaX-Ⅲ实验探测器测试平台各系统工作状态良好,应用于测试平台的Bulk Micromegas探测器具有良好的信噪比,X射线成像效果清晰,对5.9 keV X射线的能量分辨率为19.7%。     

基于伴随粒子的快中子成像系统角分辨研究

不同于传统的快中子成像系统，采用伴随粒子成像技术无需机械准直即可消除大部分γ射线和散射中子的干扰，实现对厚重物体的高对比度成像。角分辨是影响系统成像质量的一项重要参数。通过理论分析，研究了入射离子的初始动量、靶点尺寸和探测器空间分辨等多个因素对系统角分辨的影响。利用基于GEANT4的模拟程序，计算了不同参数下被标记中子出射角分布的二维图像。分析及模拟结果表明，靶点直径和α探测器空间分辨率是影响角分辨的重要因素。为满足系统角分辨小于1°的设计目标，入射离子的初始动量变化范围应较小，靶点直径应小于1 mm，同时α探测器的空间分辨率应小于0.5 mm。     

Geant4 simulation of production and interaction of muons

A set of models for Monte Carlo simulation of production and interaction of high energy muons is developed in the framework of the Geant4 toolkit. It describes the following physics processes: ionization of high energy muons with radiative corrections, bremsstrahlung, electron-positron pair production, muon induced nuclear reactions, gamma annihilation into muon pair, positron annihilation into muon pair, and into pion pair. These processes are essential for the LHC experiments, for the understanding of the background in underground detectors, for the simulation of effects related with high-energy muons in cosmic ray experiments and for the estimation of backgrounds in future colliders. The applicability area of the models extends to 1 PeV. The major use-cases are discussed.     

Position-sensitive plastic scintillator detector with WLS-fiber readout

In this paper,the design,construction,simulation,and performance of a position-sensitive plastic scintillator detector are presented.The readout of the detector uses wavelength-shifting fibers coupled with multi-anode photomultipliers(PMTs) for the x-and y-dimensions.After calibrating the multi-anode PMTs,a two-dimensional projection image of the square scintillator telescope hit by cosmic muons is demonstrated.By performing a cosmic test with the Micromegas telescope,the position resolution of the detector was determined to reach approximately8.6 mm,which is close to the value obtained in physical simulation.     

Experimental validation of material discrimination ability of muon scattering tomography at the TUMUTY facility

Muon scattering tomography is believed to be a promising technique for cargo container inspection, owing to the ability of natural muons to penetrate into dense materials and the absence of artificial radiation. In this work, the material discrimination ability of muon scattering tomography is evaluated based on experiments at the Tsinghua University cosmic ray muon tomography facility,with four materials: flour(as drugs substitute), aluminum,steel, and lead. The features of the different materials could be discriminated with cluster analysis and classifiers based on support vector machine. The overall discrimination precisions for these four materials could reach 70, 95, and 99% with 1-, 5-, and 10-min-long measurement,respectively.     

不同测量条件下μ子源项特征模拟

采用CRY宇宙射线模拟软件包,获取不同测量条件下μ子的特征信息,研究不同条件下宇宙射线中μ子的通量、能谱、角分布等特征规律。研究结果表明:太阳活动极大时会使μ子通量降低;地磁场的影响使得赤道附近的μ子通量比极地地区要小且能谱蓝移;海拔升高则会显著增大μ子通量,但总体能量均值降低。模拟结果与相关实验结果具有很好的一致性。     

A modified multi-group model of angular and momentum distribution of cosmic ray muons for thickness measurement and material discrimination of slabs

Muon tomography is a capable imaging technique to measure the geometry of high-Z objects. However,most existed algorithms used in muon tomography have obscured the effects of angular distribution and momentum spectra of cosmic ray muons and reduced the spatial resolution. We present a modified multi-group model that takes into account these effects and calibrates the model by the material of lead. Performance tests establish that the model is capable of measuring the thickness of a Pb slab and identifying the material of an unknown slab on a reasonable exposure timescale, in both cases of complete and incomplete angular data. Results show that the modified multi-group model is helpful for improvements in image resolution in real applications.     

宇宙射线μ子探测高Z材料的仿真研究

利用Geant4建立宇宙射线μ子探测高Z材料的仿真系统,采用最大似然算法,研究用于μ子探测的位置灵敏探测器漂移管的位置分辨率及系统成像时间对成像结果的影响。当漂移管的位置分辨率优于200μm、成像时间在1～2min内可对相对独立的高Z物质快速识别,本研究也为漂移管的设计加工提供了理论依据。     

Muon radiography of large industrial structures

To date there have been a few sporadic attempts to exploit the immense penetrating power of cosmic ray muons to radiographically probe the internal structure of very large objects ranging from ancient pyramids to active volcanoes. Recently, application to security problems has been described, but the very low muon flux limits more general use. However muons have potential uses for examining very large industrial structures where long measurement times are acceptable, and such possibilities are being investigated.A cosmic ray telescope and recording system has been constructed and is being employed on simple model systems to validate Monte Carlo predictions, and results obtained so far will be described.     

See inside: The development of a cosmic ray muon imaging system to aid the clean up of the UK’s nuclear waste legacy

In recent years the use of non-intrusive and non-invasive imaging techniques to safely interrogate non-nuclear (industrial) storage vessels or process units has seen a significant increase. The nature of material found within active ‘legacy waste’ storage vessels and other radiation shielded vessels coupled with the distinct lack of access makes representative sampling or visual inspection of the vessel extremely problematic and in some cases impossible. However, until recently, the radiation shielding which is commonplace on all nuclear sites has rendered existing remote non-intrusive imaging techniques useless. This is due to the limiting penetrative power of X-rays and gamma-rays as well as lack of access for other semi-invasive techniques such as electrical and acoustic imaging. Cosmic ray muon based imaging systems have great potential. This is because muons have very high energies (up to 10¹² GeV) and therefore, offer a superior penetrative power which provides a means to ‘peer through’ objects which otherwise would be inaccessible. Such objects may include lead lined silo or vessels as well as various intermediate material transport modules. Because muons only show detectable interactions with high atomic number material they also offer a means to detect the quantity and location of heavy metal elements and their associated compounds. In this work the first attempts at two-dimensional muon attenuation mapping are described. More specifically multiple plane prototype muon detection system has been used to image the resultant attenuation maps for a number of lead phantoms. This opens up possibilities for the collation of muon trajectory data which in turn can be used to track muon events both entering and leaving the object of interest allowing attenuation based image processing. It is believed that future work in this area will serve to significantly improve both the coverage area and the spatial resolution of the system though improved detector technology providing a powerful tool for the rendering of either large or dense objects.