EP3117242A1 - Dispositif et procede de detection de particules rayonnantes - Google Patents
Dispositif et procede de detection de particules rayonnantesInfo
- Publication number
- EP3117242A1 EP3117242A1 EP15714862.8A EP15714862A EP3117242A1 EP 3117242 A1 EP3117242 A1 EP 3117242A1 EP 15714862 A EP15714862 A EP 15714862A EP 3117242 A1 EP3117242 A1 EP 3117242A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- particles
- radiating
- sensor
- voltage
- ring oscillator
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01T—MEASUREMENT OF NUCLEAR OR X-RADIATION
- G01T1/00—Measuring X-radiation, gamma radiation, corpuscular radiation, or cosmic radiation
- G01T1/16—Measuring radiation intensity
- G01T1/24—Measuring radiation intensity with semiconductor detectors
- G01T1/247—Detector read-out circuitry
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01T—MEASUREMENT OF NUCLEAR OR X-RADIATION
- G01T1/00—Measuring X-radiation, gamma radiation, corpuscular radiation, or cosmic radiation
- G01T1/16—Measuring radiation intensity
- G01T1/17—Circuit arrangements not adapted to a particular type of detector
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a device for detecting radiating particles by analyzing the singular effects they cause.
- it may be transient effects affecting analog circuits or clocks or failover effect inducing errors in the memories. It also relates to a corresponding detection method.
- Such a detection device generally comprises at least one radiating particle sensor, capable of providing an electrical pulse when it is traversed by at least one radiating charge-generating particle, and at least one detection circuit receiving and processing this supplied electrical pulse. by the sensor. Indeed, the electrical pulse provided by the sensor is generally so low that it is not directly exploitable.
- a first stage of the detection circuit comprises a low-noise amplifier performing a function of converting the electrical pulse supplied by the radiating particle sensor into a voltage whose maximum amplitude is proportional to the quantity of charges detected. by the sensor.
- a second stage of the detection circuit includes an analog conditioner for shaping the analog voltage signal provided by the first stage so as to make it more easily convertible into a digital signal. This analog conditioner consists of a differentiator and second-order integrators made using operational amplifiers.
- a third stage of the detection circuit comprises an analog / digital converter and a digital signal processing processor for analyzing the signal supplied by the second stage and characterizing the at least one radiating particle detected by digital processing.
- This detection circuit configured in acquisition chain is well known and used in a large majority of radiant particle detectors using discrete components. But as in any chain of acquisition, the constraints in terms of noise of the first stage are very important in order to ensure a good sensitivity of the chain if one wants to control the electronic consumption of all. For solutions such as sensor networks or on-board detectors, the integration of all or part of the acquisition chain is required while controlling its power consumption. In this case, the performance in terms of noise and power consumption of the amplifiers of the chain become so restrictive that there are so far only few fully integrated solutions. Moreover, the noises act essentially on the amplitude of the signals, making it difficult subsequently to process the information contained in these signals.
- the detection circuit comprises a voltage controlled oscillator to which is supplied the electrical pulse from the sensor as a control voltage.
- the invention applies more particularly to a device of this type, that is to say comprising:
- At least one sensor for radiating particles capable of supplying an electrical pulse when it is crossed by at least one radiating particle
- At least one detection circuit comprising a voltage controlled oscillator to which said electrical pulse coming from the sensor is supplied as a control voltage.
- the oscillator of the aforementioned article outputs a signal whose instantaneous frequency and phase are characteristic of the electrical pulse supplied by the sensor.
- the proposed device also has disadvantages.
- the oscillator is formed by cascaded operational amplifiers whose electronic components are nevertheless quite complex.
- the output signal must be processed numerically using a polynomial model to link its phase and frequency variations to the shape of the electrical pulse provided by the sensor. This treatment is also quite complex.
- a device for detecting radiant particles comprising: at least one sensor for radiating particles, capable of supplying an electrical pulse when traversed by at least one radiating particle,
- At least one detection circuit comprising a voltage controlled oscillator supplied with said electrical pulse coming from the sensor as a control voltage
- the voltage controlled oscillator is a ring oscillator.
- a ring oscillator has few properties in common with an oscillator such as that described in the article by Castellani-Coulié et al. First, it is harmonic, whereas an oscillator based on analog operational amplifiers has relaxation properties. Then, it has been remarked that, surprisingly, when a ring oscillator is supplied with electric current by a radiating particle sensor, it outputs an exploitable signal whose shape is faithful to that of the electrical pulse received. . However, this shape is characteristic of the radiating particle or particles detected. The processing of this output signal is therefore much more immediate than those proposed in the state of the art.
- a ring oscillator is generally made up of components that are simpler and more robust than those of operational amplifiers, so that it is entirely appropriate for applications in which the detection circuit must be embedded with the particle sensor. especially in severe environments in terms of temperature and radiation. Its simplicity also makes it possible to improve the performances relating to the noise and the electrical consumption compared to the existing devices.
- the ring oscillator is set using a setpoint voltage such that the period corresponding to its oscillation natural frequency in the absence of a control voltage is less than a minimum duration of the electrical pulse that can be provided by the sensor.
- the ring oscillator comprises an odd number of logic inverters arranged in series and a feedback loop connecting the output of the last logic inverter of the series to the input of the first logic inverter of the series.
- each logic inverter is a CMOS inverter comprising the combination of a field effect transistor P and a field effect transistor N, the sources of the transistors P of each inverter logic being connected to a setpoint voltage and the drains of the transistors N of each logic inverter being connected to a bias voltage.
- a device for detecting radiating particles according to the invention may comprise a plurality of detection circuits, each detection circuit being calibrated so as to be sensitive to a predetermined energy band of radiating particles.
- a device for detecting radiant particles according to the invention may comprise a plurality of radiant particle sensors arranged in a matrix, each sensor being associated with a detection circuit calibrated on a predetermined energy band of radiating particles.
- the detection circuit comprises a circuit for analyzing an output signal of the ring oscillator for the characterization of radiating particles.
- the radiant particle sensor is a semiconductor sensor having a PIN diode.
- the voltage controlled oscillator is a ring oscillator and the radiant particle characterization is performed by analyzing the timing of the output signal of this ring oscillator.
- the analyzed output signal is an indication signal of an instantaneous oscillation frequency or average output voltage of the ring oscillator.
- FIG. 1 schematically represents the general structure of a device for detecting radiating particles according to one embodiment of the invention
- FIG. 2 diagrammatically represents a possible implementation of a ring oscillator of the device of FIG. 1,
- FIG. 3 illustrates, by means of time diagrams, an example of input and output signals of the ring oscillator of FIG. 1 or 2,
- FIG. 4 illustrates, by means of a time diagram, an amplitude linearity relation between the input and the output of the ring oscillator of FIG. 1 or 2,
- FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate, by means of time diagrams, two other examples of input and output signals of the ring oscillator of FIG. 1 or 2,
- FIG. 7 illustrates the successive steps of a method for detecting radiating particles, according to one embodiment of the invention.
- FIG. 8 schematically represents a plurality of sensors of a device for detecting radiating particles according to another embodiment of the invention.
- the device 10 for detecting radiating particles represented in FIG. 1 comprises a sensor 12 for radiating particles, capable of supplying an electrical pulse In when at least one radiating particle passes through it, and a detection circuit able to process this pulse. Electric In which is not directly exploitable as such.
- the detection circuit comprises a voltage-controlled oscillator 14, more precisely a ring oscillator, and an analysis circuit 16 of an output signal S of the ring oscillator 14.
- the sensor 12 is a CMOS sensor, comprising for example a PIN diode 18 connected to a potential VDD using a resistor R.
- the ring oscillator 14 comprises an odd number of logic inverters, for example three logic inverters 20 1 , 20 2 and 20 3 arranged in series. It further comprises a feedback loop 22 connecting the output of the last logic inverter of the series, 3 , to the input of the first logic inverter of the series, 20i. It receives the electrical pulse In at the input of the first logic inverter 20i, that is to say as a control voltage. It supplies at the output of the third logic inverter 3 the signal S that can be used by the analysis circuit 16.
- This signal S is for example a signal of the average output voltage or an instantaneous oscillation frequency signal of the ring oscillator 14.
- FIG. 2 illustrates more specifically a possible implementation of the ring oscillator 14.
- Each logic inverter 20 2 and 20 3 of this ring oscillator 14 is a simple CMOS inverter which has a single input and a single output.
- the input of any of the logic inverters supplies the gates of two P and N field effect transistors arranged in parallel, the drain of the transistor P and the source of the transistor N being joined to provide the output of the logic inverter.
- the sources of the transistors P of the three logic inverters 20 2 and 20 3 are connected to a common setpoint voltage Vctrl and the drains of the transistors N of the three logic inverters are connected to a common bias voltage Vbias.
- the three logic inverters 20 2 and 20 3 respectively generate three delays ⁇ , ⁇ 2 and ⁇ 3 , the sum of which is equal to a half-oscillation period of the ring oscillator 14.
- the set voltage Vctrl parameterize these delays so as to adjust the oscillation natural frequency of the ring oscillator 14.
- the period corresponding to the natural frequency of oscillation of the ring oscillator 14 in the absence of control voltage is less than a minimum duration of the electrical pulse In can be provided by the sensor 12. It is even more advantageous that this period corresponding to the natural frequency oscillation of the ring oscillator 14 is more than twice, or even more than three times lower than the minimum duration of the electric pulse In.
- the bias voltage Vbias makes it possible to adjust the current-voltage characteristic of each inverter 20 2 and 20 3 in an unsaturated zone of decreasing linearity.
- the diagram on the left of FIG. 3 illustrates an example of instantaneous voltage V out measured at the output of the ring oscillator 14 (curve C 2 ) as a function of the input current I input (curve Ci).
- two radiating particles pass through the sensor 1 2, generating two electrical pulses denoted ln 1 and ln 2 .
- these pulses are modeled as square signals of different amplitudes.
- the oscillator reproduces well the output of the shape of the electric pulses, but reversed.
- FIG. 5 another example of instantaneous voltage V out and instantaneous frequency F measured at the output of the ring oscillator 14 (curves C 2 and C 3 ) as a function of the current l inp ut supplied at input (curve Ci). is illustrated. It can be seen that the result is also convincing when the two electrical pulses ln 1 and ln 2 are of different durations.
- FIG. 6 another example of instantaneous voltage V out and instantaneous frequency F measured at the output of the ring oscillator 14 (curves C “ 2 and C" 3 ) as a function of the input current I input (curve ⁇ ' ⁇ ) is illustrated.
- the electrical pulses here three pulses ln ln 2 and ln 3 , are superimposed. Provided that we know a priori the expected shape of the pulses, it is easy to find these pulses by reading the curves C " 2 and C" 3 .
- the electrical pulses have intensities of a few units or tens of ⁇ .
- the detection scale ie with higher currents (at the mA scale, for example)
- a method for detecting radiating particles implemented by the device 10 of FIG. 1 will now be detailed with reference to FIG. 7.
- a first step 100 at least one radiating particle passes through the sensor 12 which in response provides an electrical pulse In.
- This electrical pulse In is supplied to the input of the ring oscillator 14 as the control voltage during a following step 102.
- Output S of this ring oscillator is provided in the following step 104.
- This output S is, as indicated previously, the average output voltage o u t_average and / or the instantaneous frequency F of the ring oscillator 14.
- the temporal shape of the output signal S is analyzed in a manner known per se by the analysis circuit 16 to characterize the radiating particle or particles detected by the sensor 12.
- this analysis including for example the study of the amplitude or the duration of the pulses, is particularly simple and immediate.
- the device 10 and the method described above can moreover be adapted for spectroscopy applications.
- the detection circuit described above is in fact adapted, according to its calibration and parameterization, that is to say according to the setting of the oscillation natural frequency of its ring oscillator (constituting a threshold in detectable pulse duration ) and according to the sizing of its logic inverters (constituting a detectable pulse amplitude threshold), to a certain energy band of radiating particles, this energy band being defined by the aforementioned thresholds.
- Matrix detection has the advantage of greatly increasing the detection area compared to existing detectors.
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
- Molecular Biology (AREA)
- Spectroscopy & Molecular Physics (AREA)
- Measurement Of Radiation (AREA)
- Other Investigation Or Analysis Of Materials By Electrical Means (AREA)
- Investigating Or Analyzing Materials By The Use Of Electric Means (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
FR1452017A FR3018615B1 (fr) | 2014-03-11 | 2014-03-11 | Dispositif et procede de detection de particules rayonnantes |
PCT/FR2015/050604 WO2015136220A1 (fr) | 2014-03-11 | 2015-03-11 | Dispositif et procede de detection de particules rayonnantes |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP3117242A1 true EP3117242A1 (fr) | 2017-01-18 |
Family
ID=51260970
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP15714862.8A Withdrawn EP3117242A1 (fr) | 2014-03-11 | 2015-03-11 | Dispositif et procede de detection de particules rayonnantes |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US9921317B2 (fr) |
EP (1) | EP3117242A1 (fr) |
FR (1) | FR3018615B1 (fr) |
WO (1) | WO2015136220A1 (fr) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20190154852A1 (en) * | 2017-11-16 | 2019-05-23 | NueVue Solutions, Inc. | Analog Direct Digital X-Ray Photon Counting Detector For Resolving Photon Energy In Spectral X-Ray CT |
Family Cites Families (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2002079803A1 (fr) * | 2001-04-02 | 2002-10-10 | Cetas, Inc. | Procede et appareil de dosimetrie radiologique |
US6741198B2 (en) * | 2001-06-20 | 2004-05-25 | R3 Logic, Inc. | High resolution, low power, wide dynamic range imager with embedded pixel processor and DRAM storage |
WO2005008286A2 (fr) * | 2003-07-12 | 2005-01-27 | Radiation Watch Limited | Detecteur de rayonnement ionisant |
US7220968B2 (en) * | 2005-01-19 | 2007-05-22 | Integrated Magnetoelectronics Corporation | Radiation detector having all-metal circuitry operation of which is based on electron spin |
US7750305B2 (en) | 2006-06-15 | 2010-07-06 | Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. | Integrated multi-channel time-to-digital converter for time-of-flight pet |
-
2014
- 2014-03-11 FR FR1452017A patent/FR3018615B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
-
2015
- 2015-03-11 EP EP15714862.8A patent/EP3117242A1/fr not_active Withdrawn
- 2015-03-11 WO PCT/FR2015/050604 patent/WO2015136220A1/fr active Application Filing
- 2015-03-11 US US15/124,623 patent/US9921317B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Non-Patent Citations (2)
Title |
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None * |
See also references of WO2015136220A1 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20170017001A1 (en) | 2017-01-19 |
FR3018615B1 (fr) | 2016-05-06 |
WO2015136220A1 (fr) | 2015-09-17 |
FR3018615A1 (fr) | 2015-09-18 |
US9921317B2 (en) | 2018-03-20 |
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Inventor name: CASTELLANI-COULIE, KARINE Inventor name: RAHAJANDRAIBE, WENCESLAS Inventor name: MICOLAU, GILLES Inventor name: AZIZA, HASSEN |
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