Feasibility study on a gamma-ray imaging using three-dimensional shadows of gamma rays

Kitayama, Yoshiharu  ; Nogami, Mitsuhiro*; Hitomi, Keitaro*

By observing the shadow, the direction of the light source can be inferred. The coded-mask gamma-ray imager is a well-known example of applying this method to a gamma-ray imager. We have extended the concept of the coded mask to three dimensions to develop a gamma-ray imager that is compact, lightweight, and has a wide field of view. That is, the direction of the gamma-ray source is estimated by measuring the three-dimensional shadow of the gamma-ray. The feasibility of this new idea was verified by simulation. We designed a Coded Cube Camera - POrtable (C3PO) with lead and scintillator cubes of 10 mm 10 mm 10 mm arranged irregularly in a 3 3 3 Rubik's cube shape and evaluated its characteristics by simulation. Result of the simulation of 10 MBq, Cs point source placed 3 m away from the C3PO, it was found that Omni-directional imaging can be done in 10 minutes. We also confirmed that the difference in imaging intensity between the two gamma-ray sources of the same intensity was less than 2%. These results indicate the possibility of quantitative evaluation of gamma-ray sources' radioactivity and Omni-directional gamma-ray imaging. In the future, we will fabricate a prototype and experimentally evaluate its characteristics.