Cryogenic detector for measuring radioactivity in a sample

Radioactivity detector operating at very low temperature. It is a solid-state detector sensitive to all types of radiation that allows the detection of any type of radioactive contamination on small amounts of material, without the need for time-consuming and laborious sample preparation.

How does it work?

The detector is based on a technology developed for the study of neutrinos and operates at temperatures close to absolute zero. This allows a very high sensitivity, necessary for working on very small sample quantities, without the need for special preparations, and greatly shortens measurement times, from weeks needed with traditional techniques to a couple of days. The detector is sensitive to all types of radiation, therefore it can detect different contaminants in one single measurement, unlike the techniques in use that require a different measurement for each type of radiation (alpha, beta, X, gamma), together with a specific sample preparation.

Applications

• Measurement of radioactive contaminants on food samples
• Measurement of radioactive contamination on soil samples following nuclear accidents
• Determination of the origin of samples.

Advantages

• High sensitivity and dynamic energy range, allowing all types of radiation to be measured in one go
• Shortened measurement times
• Possibility to measure small mass samples
• Possibility to measure samples as such, without laborious preparation.