RIS ID

113937

Publication Details

Romanyukha, A. A., Cunningham, A. C., George, S. P., Guatelli, S., Petasecca, M., Rosenfeld, A. B. & Roberts, R. G. (2017). Deriving spatially resolved beta dose rates in sediment using the Timepix pixelated detector. Radiation Measurements, 106 483-490.

Abstract

Luminescence dating methods currently allow for the evaluation of the distribution of equivalent dose (De) values for individual sand-sized grains of quartz and feldspar from a given sample, but the environmental dose rate is still derived from the bulk sample. Additionally, single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is performed on disaggregated samples, resulting in the loss of micro-stratigraphic context. To enhance the interpretation of De distributions, we aim to estimate the beta dose rate to sub-millimetre regions of intact samples using the Timepix pixelated semiconductor detector. The Timepix contains an array of 256 × 256 pixels, each 55 × 55 μm in size and with its own preamplifier, discriminator and digital counter. The detector has a total sensitive area of 1.98 cm2, and 65,536 independent channels. The output of each measurement is a matrix containing the position and pixel-by-pixel count rate (or deposited energy) of each particle that interacted in the sensitive volume of the detector. The main challenge in using the Timepix detector is low natural sample activity, and the goal of this work is to acquire data with minimal background contribution. With an experimental setup guided by Geant4 simulations, progress has been made to greatly reduce background noise using ad hoc shielding and post-acquisition particle analysis. We have established a Timepix measurement procedure applicable to resin-impregnated sediment samples, including sample preparation, measurement, and data processing and analysis. These steps have been tested on an artificial micro-stratified sample (composed of quartz and biotite grains held together by resin) to derive the corresponding spatially resolved beta dose rates.

Grant Number

ARC/FL130100116

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