Design of a Compton scatter based radiation tracking system

Abstract

Gamma spectroscopy is one of the most common techniques used for the detection of radiologic materials. This technology is deployed in a variety of scenarios such as emergency response, monitoring, and the recovery of lost, stolen, or otherwise unaccounted radiologic material. In most practical scenarios, it is useful to know the location of a source in relation to a detector, in addition to the classic output from gamma spectrometers such as decay rate and energy peak information. In collaboration with the Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) at Andrew's Air Force Base, a novel detector design by RSL, which utilizes a 360° detectable range in order to increase the probability of remote detection, was investigated for the possibility to recreate source location information from Compton scattering events within the detector. A recreation of this novel detector is simulated using Geant4 to determine the optimal dimensions of sodium iodide detectors that produce the most single Compton scattering events in order to facilitate source location through the back-projection of Compton scattering angles. The optimal detector dimensions are determined by maximizing the number of single Compton scatter events and minimizing the percentage of Compton events that undergo multiple successive scatters in detectors of varying thicknesses and lengths. The optimal detector thickness was chosen to be 1.88 in, and the optimal detector length was chosen to be 4 to 4.5 in. In future projects, these optimized detectors can be used to apply suggested back-projection algorithms in order to determine the feasibility and functionality of this detector design for the purpose of radiologic source location.