Ionizing particle detection based on phononic crystals

Most conventional radiation detectors are based on electronic or photon collections. In this work, we introduce a new and novel type of ionizing particle detector based on phonon collection. Helium ion radiation treats tumors with better precision. There are nine known isotopes of helium, but only h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 2015-08, Vol.118 (6)
Main Authors: Aly, Arafa H., Mehaney, Ahmed, Eissa, Mostafa F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACCURACY
Applied physics
Chemical synthesis
CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
CRYSTALS
Elastic properties
ELASTICITY
ELECTRONS
Helium
HELIUM 4
HELIUM IONS
Helium isotopes
ION DETECTION
Ion detectors
IONIZING RADIATIONS
METHACRYLATES
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
PHONONS
PHOTONS
Polyethylene
POLYETHYLENES
Radiation counters
RADIATION DETECTORS
Reactor technology
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
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Summary:Most conventional radiation detectors are based on electronic or photon collections. In this work, we introduce a new and novel type of ionizing particle detector based on phonon collection. Helium ion radiation treats tumors with better precision. There are nine known isotopes of helium, but only helium-3 and helium-4 are stable. Helium-4 is formed in fusion reactor technology and in enormous quantities during Big Bang nucleo-synthesis. In this study, we introduce a technique for helium-4 ion detection (sensing) based on the innovative properties of the new composite materials known as phononic crystals (PnCs). PnCs can provide an easy and cheap technique for ion detection compared with conventional methods. PnC structures commonly consist of a periodic array of two or more materials with different elastic properties. The two materials are polymethyl-methacrylate and polyethylene polymers. The calculations showed that the energies lost to target phonons are maximized at 1 keV helium-4 ion energy. There is a correlation between the total phonon energies and the transmittance of PnC structures. The maximum transmission for phonons due to the passage of helium-4 ions was found in the case of making polyethylene as a first layer in the PnC structure. Therefore, the concept of ion detection based on PnC structure is achievable.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.4928315