Advanced Radiation Detector

To address the DTRA need to prevent terrorist nuclear attacks by early identification of radiological dispersal devices (RDD) and improvised nuclear devices (IND), Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new low-cost large area Advanced Radiation Detector (ARAD), highly sensitive to gamma and X-rays with energies up to 1 MeV. The ARAD is based on NaI(Tl) scintillator and large arrays of high-aspect-ratio microchannels in silicon wafers. The ARAD will have high sensitivity, high resolution, high SNR, and CCD readout. The ARAD design will be compatible with existing semiconductor production process, significantly reducing the cost of NaI(Tl) detectors to $5 per 2 in. square detector, unlike current detectors that cost $350. In Phase I we will design, fabricate, and test an ARAD prototype for hard X-ray energies up to 90 keV. In Phase II POC will demonstrate a working ARAD engineering prototype operating in the range up to 1 MeV with the CCD readout. The low-cost ARAD will find immediate application by DTRA to equip large numbers of personnel and outfit points of entry with nuclear and radiological detection systems for identification of RDDs and INDs.