New Materials for High Energy Colour X-ray Imaging
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Materials
Abstract
Advances in X-ray digital imaging over the last 15 years have revolutionised the way that we observe the world. For example, medical images are improving in resolution and clarity; the automotive and aerospace industries have used tomographic imaging to find faults, cracks and dislocations in sensitive components; the scanners used at airports for baggage surveillance have increased in sophistication and are often using substance recognition techniques and as a final example X-ray imaging cameras have been launched into space in order to provide more detailed information about the origins of our universe. However impressive these developments may be the technology of 3D imaging is severely limited by the currently available detector arrays. The origins of this limitation can be found in the materials that are currently used in these arrays. We wish to develop a new and novel range of semiconductor materials made from heavy elements ideally suited to making array detectors that will operate with high energy X-rays. At present it is not possible to obtain defect free material of area greater than about one square cm and even this cannot be guaranteed. We will rectify this problem and deliver high quality semiconductor material for our applications in addition to supplying material for many other UK applications that are not specifically part of our consortium's proposal.These new materials will have instant applications across the sciences. The use of such materials in these cases is not merely incremental; they will enable entirely new materials to be examined and will give us images of unparalleled quality and information content. We will use the many wavelengths (colour information) present in X-ray sources to fingerprint materials as well as image them. High energy X-rays have the ability to penetrate deeply into materials allowing the examination of dense objects such as welds in steel, geological core sections bearing oil or gas or for the internal observation of chemical reactions inside heavy plant or machinery. The use of higher energy X-rays has a further advantage in medical diagnosis delivering clearer images with lower radiation doses. At present no suitable materials exist anywhere in the world that will satisfy the demanding technical requirements of high energy X-ray imaging. We will establish a UK technology base for the development and production of high purity heavy semiconductor materials. These materials are promising candidate semiconductors that combine high efficiency with good bulk charge transport properties. Over recent years we have made considerable progress in developing the growth of suitable semiconductors. We will develop a process to grow wafers with excellent charge transport which has the potential for scale-up to larger wafer diameters in the later phase of the project. The material will be characterised in terms of electrical and charge transport properties, and this information will be used to optimise the growth and dopant regimes. We will then process the material into detector devices; this will require the development of metal-semiconductor contacts and passivation treatments. This will be carried out at CCLRC and Surrey using dedicated clean rooms. These working devices will then be utilised in the research programmes of Manchester, London, Liverpool Daresbury and the diamond synchrotron light source. These high purity wafers will also be made available for a much wider range of research applications that will be opened up by this manufacturing project.A unique feature of our collaboration is our ability to develop the new materials as well as utilise them with full detector systems. We see this as a vital step in delivering the materials to a diverse scientific audience as well as a route to commercial exploitation. The opportunities for the latter are significant.
Organisations
Publications
Egan C
(2009)
A Scanning Probe Microscopy Study of Cd1-x Zn x Te
in Journal of Electronic Materials
Jiang Q
(2009)
Growth of Thick Epitaxial CdTe Films by Close Space Sublimation
in Journal of Electronic Materials
Christodoulou C
(2011)
Multivariate analysis of pixelated diffraction data
in Journal of Instrumentation
Scuffham J
(2013)
Algorithms for spectral calibration of energy-resolving small-pixel detectors
in Journal of Instrumentation
Veale M
(2012)
Characterization of M-p-n CdTe pixel detectors coupled to HEXITEC readout chip
in Journal of Instrumentation
Prekas G
(2010)
Investigation of the internal electric field distribution under in situ x-ray irradiation and under low temperature conditions by the means of the Pockels effect
in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Jiang Q
(2009)
Thick epitaxial CdTe films grown by close space sublimation on Ge substrates
in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Espinosa-Alonso L
(2009)
Tomographic energy dispersive diffraction imaging to study the genesis of Ni nanoparticles in 3D within gamma-Al2O3 catalyst bodies.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Hansson C
(2009)
Erratum to: "Performance limitations of the pixelated ERD detector with respect to imaging using the rapid Tomographic Energy Dispersive Diffraction Imaging System" [Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 604 (2009) 119-122]
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Veale M
(2007)
X-ray spectroscopy and charge transport properties of CdZnTe grown by the vertical Bridgman method
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Hansson C
(2009)
Performance limitations of the pixelated ERD detector with respect to imaging using the rapid Tomographic Energy Dispersive Diffraction Imaging system
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Nakhostin M
(2010)
Time walk correction of CdTe detectors using depth sensing technique
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Jones L
(2009)
HEXITEC ASIC-a pixellated readout chip for CZT detectors
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Sellin P
(2008)
Ion beam induced charge imaging of charge transport in CdTe and CdZnTe
in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms
Lohstroh A
(2008)
Ion beam induced charge (IBIC) irradiation damage study in synthetic single crystal diamond using 2.6 MeV protons
in physica status solidi (a)
Özsan M
(2010)
Chemical etching and surface oxidation studies of cadmium zinc telluride radiation detectors
in Surface and Interface Analysis
Egan C
(2010)
Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of the semi-insulating CdZnTe(110) surface
in Surface Science
Veale M
(2018)
HEXITEC: A High-Energy X-ray Spectroscopic Imaging Detector for Synchrotron Applications
in Synchrotron Radiation News
Lazzari O
(2009)
Reconstructive colour X-ray diffraction imaging--a novel TEDDI imaging method.
in The Analyst
Koutalonis M
(2009)
Designing an in-field system for illicit drug detection using X-ray diffraction
Pelc Norbert
(2011)
Medical Imaging 2011: Physics of Medical Imaging
Description | The majority of resource this basic technology grant has been expended in detector/material development. This has a significant impact in its own right because these are now available for researchers to purchase/exploit. The grant led to 48 publications in system development but also, and critically, demonstrated that colour imaging can successfully image the chemistry and physical structure of an object. We have demonstrated its usefulness in medical biopsy; NDT for light alloys; strain scanning in fabricated components and in the identification of contraband in security imaging. |
First Year Of Impact | 2004 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Construction,Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Security and Diplomacy,Transport |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | EPSRC |
Amount | £1,241,448 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/H046577/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2011 |
End | 06/2014 |
Description | EU CORDIS press release |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Raised awareness in EU funding mechanisms Not measured |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://cordis.europa.eu/news/rcn/35412_en.html |
Description | Online blog |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Educating Yorkshire Not measured |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.eytechnology.org.uk/e/services/Testing-Analysis/Nondestructive-Xray-Investigation.aspx |
Description | Popular article The Guardian |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Considerable feedback Not measured |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
URL | http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/mar/20/engineering.research |
Description | Popular article in New Scientist |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Incresed interest Not measured |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
URL | http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12977-colour-xray-machine-sees-so-much-more.html#.VGNF8cm8q7s |
Description | Popular article in Physics World |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Increased enquiries Not measured |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
URL | http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2008/jan/08/colour-x-ray-images-reveal-more |
Description | TV programme The Naked Scientists |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Shared information about the new scanner Not measured |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
URL | http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/news/news/1280/ |
Description | The Engineer web site |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Incresed awareness in engineering Not measured |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.theengineer.co.uk/more-sectors/electronics/news/camera-takes-3d-colour-x-ray-photographs-... |