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Objective. We propose a novel four-layer depth-of-interaction (DOI) encoding phoswich detector using lutetium–yttrium oxyothosilicate (LYSO) and bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillator crystal arrays for high sensitivity and high spatial resolution small animal PET imaging. Approach. The detector was comprised of a stack of four alternating LYSO and BGO scintillator crystal arrays coupled to an 8 × 8 multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) array and read out by a PETsys TOFPET2 application specific integrated circuit. The four layers from the top (gamma ray entrance) to the bottom (facing the MPPC) consisted of a 24 × 24 array of 0.99 × 0.99 × 6 mm3 LYSO crystals, a 24 × 24 array of 0.99 × 0.99 × 6 mm3 BGO crystals, a 16 × 16 array of 1.53 × 1.53 × 6 mm3 LYSO crystals and a 16 × 16 array of 1.53 × 1.53 × 6 mm3 BGO crystals. Main results. Events that occurred in the LYSO and BGO layers were first separated by measuring the pulse energy (integrated charge) and duration (time over threshold (ToT)) from the scintillation pulses. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) were then used to distinguish between the top and lower LYSO layers and between the upper and bottom BGO layers. Measurements with the prototype detector showed that our proposed method successfully identified events from all four layers. The CNN models achieved a classification accuracy of 91% for distinguishing the two LYSO layers and 81% for distinguishing the two BGO layers. The measured average energy resolution was 13.1% ± 1.7% for the top LYSO layer, 34.0% ± 6.3% for the upper BGO layer, 12.3% ± 1.3% for the lower LYSO layer, and 33.9% ± 6.9% for the bottom BGO layer. The timing resolution between each individual layer (from the top to the bottom) and a single crystal reference detector was 350 ps, 2.8 ns, 328 ps, and 2.1 ns respectively. Significance. In conclusion, the proposed four-layer DOI encoding detector achieved high performance and is an attractive choice for next-generation high sensitivity and high spatial resolution small animal positron emission tomography systems.

The suppression of leakage current via surface passivation plays a critical role for GaSb‐based optoelectronic devices. In this Letter the authors carefully optimise the sulfur passivation parameters for improving the performance of GaSb p–i–n devices. Two competing processes are evaluated during the sulfur passivation process: the hydrolysis of HS– ions that aide surface passivation and the re‐oxidation, respectively. Upon the optimisation of sulfur passivation parameters and subsequent encapsulation with atomic layer deposition Al2 O3, the surface resistivity significantly increased from 4.3 kΩ.cm to 28.6 kΩ.cm, leading to a 19.1 times drop in dark current at room temperature for the GaSb p–i–n structure. This Letter provides a repeatable and stable passivation approach for improving the optoelectronic performance of GaSb‐based devices.

We present the performance of a digital phoswich positron emission tomography (PET) detector, composed by layers of pixilated scintillator arrays, read out by solid state light detectors and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). We investigated the use of integrated charge from the scintillation pulses along with time-over-threshold (ToT) to determine the layer of interaction (DOI) in the scintillator. Simulations were performed to assess the effectiveness of the ToT measurements for separating the scintillator events and identifying cross-layer-crystal-scatter (CLCS) events. These simulations indicate that ToT and charge integration from such a detector provide sufficient information to determine the layer of interaction. To demonstrate this in practice, we used a pair of prototype LYSO/BGO detectors. One detector consisted of a 19 × 19 array of 7 mm long LYSO crystals (1.36 mm pitch) coupled to a 16 × 16 array of 8 mm long BGO crystals (1.63 mm pitch). The other detector was similar except the LYSO crystal pitch was 1.63 mm. These detectors were coupled to an 8 × 8 multi-pixel photon counter mounted on a PETsys TOFPET2 ASIC. This high performance ASIC provided digital readout of the integrated charge and ToT from these detectors. We present a method to separate the events from the two scintillator layers using the ToT, and also investigate the performance of this detector. All the crystals within the proposed detector were clearly resolved, and the peak to valley ratio was 11.8 ± 4.0 and 10.1 ± 2.9 for the LYSO and BGO flood images. The measured energy resolution was 9.9% ± 1.3% and 28.5% ± 5.0% respectively for the LYSO and BGO crystals in the phoswich layers. The timing resolution between the LYSO–LYSO, LYSO–BGO and BGO–BGO coincidences was 468 ps, 1.33 ns and 2.14 ns respectively. Results show ToT can be used to identify the crystal layer where events occurred and also identify and reject the majority of CLCS events between layers.

Pulse pileup events degrade the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of nuclear medicine data. When such events occur in multiplexed detectors, they cause spatial misposition, energy spectrum distortion and degraded timing resolution, which leads to image artifacts. Pulse pileup is pronounced in PETbox4, a bench top PET scanner dedicated to high sensitivity and high resolution imaging of mice. In that system, the combination of high absolute sensitivity, long scintillator decay time (BGO) and highly multiplexed electronics lead to a significant fraction of pulse pileup, reached at lower total activity than for comparable instruments. In this manuscript, a new pulse pileup rejection method named position shift rejection (PSR) is introduced. The performance of PSR is compared with a conventional leading edge rejection (LER) method and with no pileup rejection implemented (NoPR). A comprehensive digital pulse library was developed for objective evaluation and optimization of the PSR and LER, in which pulse waveforms were directly recorded from real measurements exactly representing the signals to be processed. Physical measurements including singles event acquisition, peak system sensitivity and NEMA NU-4 image quality phantom were also performed in the PETbox4 system to validate and compare the different pulse pile-up rejection methods. The evaluation of both physical measurements and model pulse trains demonstrated that the new PSR performs more accurate pileup event identification and avoids erroneous rejection of valid events. For the PETbox4 system, this improvement leads to a significant recovery of sensitivity at low count rates, amounting to about 1/4th of the expected true coincidence events, compared to the LER method. Furthermore, with the implementation of PSR, optimal image quality can be achieved near the peak noise equivalent count rate (NECR).

HiPET is a recently developed prototype preclinical PET scanner dedicated to high sensitivity and high resolution molecular imaging. The HiPET system employs a phoswich depth of interaction (DOI) detector design, which also allows identification of the large majority of the cross layer crystal scatter (CLCS) events. This work evaluates its performance characteristics following the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU4-2008 protocol. The HiPET consists of twenty flat panel type detectors arranged in two rings. The inner diameter is 160 mm and the axial field of view (FOV) is 104 mm. Each detector is comprised of two layers of phoswich scintillator crystal arrays, a tapered, pixelated glass lightguide and a multi anode photomultiplier tube (MAPMT). The front (gamma ray entrance) layer is a 48 × 48 pixelated cerium doped lutetium yttrium orthosilicate (LYSO) scintillator array with individual crystals measuring 1.01 × 1.01 × 6.1 mm. The back (towards the PMT) layer is a 32 × 32 pixelated bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillator array with individual crystals measuring 1.55 × 1.55 × 8.9 mm. For energy windows of 250-650 keV and 350-650 keV, the peak absolute sensitivity at the center of the FOV was 13.5% and 10.4% including CLCS events, and 11.8% and 8.9% excluding CLCS events, respectively. The average detector energy resolution derived by averaging the individual crystal spectra was 11.7% ± 1.4% for LYSO and 17.0% ± 1.4% for BGO. The 3D ordered-subsets expectation maximization (OSEM) reconstructed image of a point source in air, ranged from 0.73 mm to 1.19 mm, with an average value of 0.93 ± 0.09 mm at all measured locations. The peak noise equivalent count rate (NECR) and scatter fraction were 179 kcps at 12.4 MBq and 6.9% for the mouse-sized phantom, and 63 kcps at 11.3 MBq and 18.3% for the rat-sized phantom. For the NEMA image quality phantom, the uniformity was 5.8%, and the spillover ratios measured in the water- and air-filled cold region chambers were 0.047 and 0.044, respectively. The recovery coefficients (RC) ranged from 0.31 to 0.92. These results and in vivo evaluation demonstrate that the HiPET can achieve high quality molecular imaging for biomedical applications.

G8 is a benchtop integrated PET/CT scanner dedicated to high-sensitivity and high-resolution imaging of mice. This work characterizes its National Electrical Manufacturers Association NU 4-2008 performance where applicable and also assesses the basic imaging performance of the CT subsystem. Methods: The PET subsystem in G8 consists of 4 flat-panel detectors arranged in a boxlike geometry. Each panel consists of 2 modules of a 26 × 26 pixelated bismuth germanate scintillator array with individual crystals measuring 1.75 × 1.75 × 7.2 mm. The crystal arrays are coupled to multichannel photomultiplier tubes via a tapered, pixelated glass lightguide. A cone-beam CT scanner consisting of a MicroFocus x-ray source and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor detector provides anatomic information. Sensitivity, spatial resolution, energy resolution, scatter fraction, count-rate performance, and the capability of performing phantom and mouse imaging were evaluated for the PET subsystem. Noise, dose level, contrast, and resolution were evaluated for the CT subsystem. Results: With an energy window of 350–650 keV, the peak sensitivity was 9.0% near the center of the field of view. The crystal energy resolution ranged from 15.0% to 69.6% in full width at half maximum (FWHM), with a mean of 19.3% ± 3.7%. The average intrinsic spatial resolution was 1.30 and 1.38 mm FWHM in the transverse and axial directions, respectively. The maximum-likelihood expectation maximization reconstructed image of a point source in air averaged 0.81 ± 0.11 mm FWHM. The peak noise-equivalent count rate for the mouse-sized phantom was 44 kcps for a total activity of 2.9 MBq (78 μCi), and the scatter fraction was 11%. For the CT subsystem, the value of the modulation transfer function at 10% was 2.05 cycles/mm. Conclusion: The overall performance demonstrates that the G8 can produce high-quality images for molecular imaging–based biomedical research.

III-(As, Sb) alloys are building blocks for various advanced optoelectronic devices, but the growth of their ternary or quaternary materials are commonly limited by spontaneous formation of clusters and phase separations during alloying. Recently, digital alloy growth by molecular beam epitaxy has been widely adopted in preference to conventional random alloy growth because of the extra degree of control offered by the ordered alloying. In this article, we provide a comparative study of the optical characteristics of AlAsSb alloys grown lattice-matched to GaSb using both techniques. The sample grown by digital alloy technique showed stronger photoluminescence intensity, narrower peak linewidth, and larger carrier activation energy than the random alloy technique, indicating an improved optical quality with lower density of non-radiative recombination centers. In addition, a relatively long carrier lifetime was observed from the digital alloy sample, consistent with the results obtained from the photoluminescence study.

This work develops a (NH4)2S/Al2O3 passivation technique for photodiode-based GaSb/AlAsSb heterostructure. Surface-sulfurated GaSb/AlAsSb heterostructure mesas show a significant suppression of reversed-bias dark current by 4–5 orders of magnitude after they are further passivated by Al2O3 layers. So the mesa sidewalls treated with (NH4)2S/Al2O3 layers can effectively inhibit the shunt path of dark carriers. The activation energies for both bulk and surface components are extracted from temperature-dependent current–voltage characteristics, which suggest that the bulk characteristics remain unchanged, while Fermi-level pinning at surfaces is alleviated. Additionally, temperature coefficients of the breakdown voltage are extracted, confirming that the breakdown process is confined entirely in the large bandgap AlAsSb regions. This study shows that the implementation of (NH4)2S/Al2O3 passivation can lead to room temperature GaSb-based photodiodes and GaSb/AlAsSb-based avalanche photodiodes for highly efficient photodetection.

Demonstrated are antimony‐based (Sb‐based) separate absorption and multiplication avalanche photodiodes (SAM‐APDs) for X‐ray and gamma‐ray detection, which are composed of GaSb absorbers and large bandgap AlAsSb multiplication regions in order to enhance the probability of stopping high‐energy photons while drastically suppressing the minority carrier diffusion. Well‐defined X‐ray and gamma‐ray photopeaks are observed under exposure to 241Am radioactive sources, demonstrating the desirable energy‐sensitive detector performance. Spectroscopic characterizations show a significant improvement of measured energy resolution due to reduced high‐peak electric field in the absorbers and suppressed nonradiative recombination on surfaces. Additionally, the GaSb/AlAsSb SAM‐APDs clearly exhibit energy response linearity up to 59.5 keV with a minimum full‐width half‐maximum of 1.283 keV. A further analysis of the spectroscopic measurement suggests that the device performance is intrinsically limited by the noise from the readout electronics rather than that from the photodiodes. This study provides a first understanding of Sb‐based energy‐sensitive SAM‐APDs and paves the way to achieving efficient detection of high‐energy photons for X‐ray and gamma‐ray spectroscopy.

Semiconductor radiation detectors offer direct absorption of a high-energy photon by the detector material, and promise the lowest energy resolution for x-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy. The enhanced energy resolution for x-rays or gamma-rays could be very attractive for monitoring hazardous industrial waste, sensing radiological weapons or nuclear threats, and medical imaging. High stopping power (photoelectric absorption efficiency, ∝ Z4–5) semiconductor radiation detectors that operate at room temperature with a performance approaching the energy resolution of cooled high purity germanium detectors (HPGe) is desirable, but have yet been realized. Large bandgap materials with lower noise tend to have low Z and thus poor efficiency for stopping gamma radiation. On the other hand, high Z materials, which are efficient at stopping gamma radiation, present low bandgaps resulting in large dark currents and require cooling to achieve good energy resolution. CdTe is by far the most promising material that has both large bandgap and high Z, but it also suffers from hole tailing effect for photon energy >100 keV due to the poor hole transport [1, 2].

This paper introduces a mouse atlas registration system (MARS), composed of a stationary top-view x-ray projector and a side-view optical camera, coupled to a mouse atlas registration algorithm. This system uses the x-ray and optical images to guide a fully automatic co-registration of a mouse atlas with each subject, in order to provide anatomical reference for small animal molecular imaging systems such as positron emission tomography (PET). To facilitate the registration, a statistical atlas that accounts for inter-subject anatomical variations was constructed based on 83 organ-labeled mouse micro-computed tomography (CT) images. The statistical shape model and conditional Gaussian model techniques were used to register the atlas with the x-ray image and optical photo. The accuracy of the atlas registration was evaluated by comparing the registered atlas with the organ-labeled micro-CT images of the test subjects. The results showed excellent registration accuracy of the whole-body region, and good accuracy for the brain, liver, heart, lungs and kidneys. In its implementation, the MARS was integrated with a preclinical PET scanner to deliver combined PET/MARS imaging, and to facilitate atlas-assisted analysis of the preclinical PET images.

A phoswich depth of interaction (DOI) detector composed by two layers of scintillator arrays (LYSO and BGO) has been proposed. To use this design for building practical systems, a tapered multiple-element glass lightguide is necessary to couple the scintillator arrays to a PSPMT. The complete individual detector module offers an overall dimension of 52×52 mm2 that matches the external dimensions of the PSPMT package, allowing continuous positioning of the scintillator arrays for creating flat panel detectors without introducing gaps between detector modules. In this work, we define the elements adjacent to the edge in an array as “edge+” elements. Both of the layers of the phoswich detector and the lightguide have such edge+ elements. The lightguide was modified according to the photodetector geometry, aiming at improving edge and corner crystal identification and energy resolution: In an assembled detector, the optimized edge+ lightguide elements superimpose on top of both edge and edge+ anodes of the PSPMT. In that case, the edge+ lightguide elements distribute light onto both the edge and edge+ anodes, while edge lightguide elements primarily distribute light onto the edge anodes. This different light sharing scheme improves the capability of identifying edge+ crystals from edge crystals. In addition, the edge lightguide elements were enlarged to improve the light collection and corresponding energy resolution for the edge crystals. Flood images were acquired and energy resolution was calculated for individual crystals. All the edge and edge+ crystals were clearly resolved. Energy resolution was improved from 24.4 ± 4.4% to 20.0 ± 1.7% for edge crystals. The new proposed lightguide successfully improved edge crystal identification and energy resolution in the proposed pixelated scintillator detector.

A new phoswich detector is being developed at the Crump Institute, aiming to provide improvements in sensitivity, and spatial resolution for PET. The detector configuration is comprised of two layers of pixelated scintillator crystal arrays, a glass lightguide and a light detector. The annihilation photon entrance (top) layer is a $48\times48$ array of $1.01 \times 1.01 \times7 ~\hbox{mm}^{3}$ LYSO crystals. The bottom layer is a $32 \times 32$ array of $1.55 \times1.55 \times 9~\hbox{mm}^{3}$ BGO crystals. A tapered, multiple-element glass lightguide is used to couple the exit end of the BGO crystal array ( $52 \times 52~\hbox{mm}^{2}$ ) to the photosensitive area of the Position Sensitive Photomultiplier Tube ( $46 \times 46~\hbox{mm}^{2}$ ), allowing the creation of flat panel detectors without gaps between the detector modules. Both simulations and measurements were performed to evaluate the characteristics and benefits of the proposed design. The GATE Monte Carlo simulation indicated that the total fraction of the cross layer crystal scatter (CLCS) events in singles detection mode for this detector geometry is 13.2%. The large majority of these CLCS events (10.1% out of 13.2%) deposit most of their energy in a scintillator layer other than the layer of first interaction. Identification of those CLCS events for rejection or correction may lead to improvements in data quality and imaging performance. Physical measurements with the prototype detector showed that the LYSO, BGO and CLCS events were successfully identified using the delayed charge integration (DCI) technique, with more than 95% of the LYSO and BGO crystal elements clearly resolved. The measured peak-to-valley ratios (PVR) in the flood histograms were 3.5 for LYSO and 2.0 for BGO. For LYSO, the energy resolution ranged from 9.7% to 37.0% full width at half maximum (FWHM), with a mean of $13.4 \pm 4.8\%$ . For BGO the energy resolution ranged from 16.0% to 33.9% FWHM, with a mean of $18.6\pm 3.2\%$ . In conclusion, these results demonstrate that the proposed detector is feasible and can potentially lead to a high spatial resolution, high sensitivity and DOI PET system.

The design of a dual modality imaging system for small animal optical and positron emission tomography imaging (OPET) is underway. Its detector must be capable of imaging high energy γ-rays from PET while also resolving optical wavelength photons from bioluminescence. GSO, high purity GSO, BGO, LSO, LYSO, and LaBr scintillators were investigated for their use in the OPET detector. Of specific interest were scintillators with low afterglow, since afterglow photons in the decay of the larger γ-ray events are indistinguishable from the photons generated by bioluminescence. Samples from these crystals were coupled to a photomultiplier tube (PMT) and produced scintillation light from γ-ray events originating from a positron source. The PMT output was directed to a special signal processing circuit that allowed measurement of single photons at different times in the decay of the scintillation. GSO and BGO exhibited optimal performance for use in the OPET system due to their low afterglow. LSO, LYSO, and LaBr were determined unsuitable for use with the current OPET design due to their significant afterglow components. The effect of the afterglow of GSO on the detection of the bioluminescence signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was evaluated for the OPET system.

A combined optical positron emission tomography (OPET) system is capable of both optical and PET imaging in the same setting, and it can provide information/interpretation not possible in single-mode imaging. The scintillator array here serves the dual function of coupling the optical signal from bioluminescence/fluorescence to the photodetector and also of channeling optical scintillations from the gamma rays. We report simulation results of the PET part of OPET using GATE, a Geant4 simulation package. The purpose of this investigation is the definition of the geometric parameters of the OPET tomograph. OPET is composed of six detector blocks arranged in a hexagonal ring-shaped pattern with an inner radius of 15.6 mm. Each detector consists of a two-dimensional array of 8 /spl times/ 8 scintillator crystals each measuring 2 /spl times/ 2 /spl times/ 10 mm/sup 3/. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the GATE software to measure absolute sensitivity, depth of interaction, and spatial resolution for two ring configurations, with and without gantry rotations, two crystal materials, and several crystal lengths. Images were reconstructed with filtered backprojection after angular interleaving and transverse one-dimensional interpolation of the sinogram. We report absolute sensitivities nearly seven times that of the prototype microPET at the center of field of view and 2.0 mm tangential and 2.3 mm radial resolutions with gantry rotations up to an 8.0 mm radial offset. These performance parameters indicate that the imaging spatial resolution and sensitivity of the OPET system will be suitable for high-resolution and high-sensitivity small-animal PET imaging.

We measured the cross section and response functions for the quasielastic 16O(e,e'p) reaction for missing energies 25< or =E(m)< or =120 MeV at missing momenta P(m)< or =340 MeV/c. For 25

We describe the upgraded time-of-flight facility at the Indiana University Cyclotron which has been used to measure the polarization transfer induced in ( p → , n → ) reactions at intermediate energies, Ep=100–200 MeV. The Indiana Neutron POLarimeter (INPOL) is able to measure simultaneously two orthogonal neutron spin polarizations induced in charge exchange reactions with polarized proton beams oriented in each of the three spin states, normal ( N → ), sideways ( S → ) and longitudinal ( L → ).

We have measured the transverse asymmetry A_T′ in ^3He(e,e′) quasielastic scattering in Hall A at Jefferson Laboratory with high precision for Q^2 values from 0.1 to 0.6 (GeV/c)^2. The neutron magnetic form factor GMn was extracted based on Faddeev calculations for Q^2 = 0.1 and 0.2 (GeV/c)^2 with an experimental uncertainty of less than 2%.

We have measured the cross section for quasielastic 1p -shell proton knockout in the {sup 16}O( e, e{sup '}p) reaction at {omega}=0.439 GeV and Q{sup 2}=0.8 (GeV/c){sup 2} for missing momentum P{sub miss}{

We present zero-degree differential cross sections and transverse spin-transfer coefficients D{sub NN}(0{degree}) for the {sup 17,18}O({rvec p},{rvec n}){sup 17,18}F reactions at E{sub p}=118 MeV. For the transition to the {sup 17}F(g.s.) to which several multipoles contribute, the measured D{sub NN}(0{degree})={minus}0.13{plus_minus}0.05 is used to separate the Fermi and Gamow-Teller contributions at 0{degree}. The empirical Gamow-Teller strengths and the Fermi strengths are employed to estimate the solar neutrino absorption cross section in {sup 17}O and {sup 18}O. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}

The deuteron elastic structure function A(Q2) has been extracted in the range 0.7≤Q2≤6.0(GeV/c)2 from cross section measurements of elastic electron-deuteron scattering in coincidence using the Hall A Facility of Jefferson Laboratory. The data are compared to theoretical models, based on the impulse approximation with the inclusion of meson-exchange currents, and to predictions of quark dimensional scaling and perturbative quantum chromodynamics.

We have measured the parity-violating electroweak asymmetry in the elastic scattering of polarized electrons from the proton. The kinematic point (theta_lab = 12.3 degrees and Q^2=0.48 (GeV/c)^2) is chosen to provide sensitivity, at a level that is of theoretical interest, to the strange electric form factor G_E^s. The result, A=-14.5 +- 2.2 ppm, is consistent with the electroweak Standard Model and no additional contributions from strange quarks. In particular, the measurement implies G_E^s + 0.39G_M^s = 0.023 +- 0.034 (stat) +- 0.022 (syst) +- 0.026 (delta G_E^n), where the last uncertainty arises from the estimated uncertainty in the neutron electric form factor., 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

Gamow-Teller transition strengths obtained in the {sup 127}I(p,n){sup 127}Xe reaction studied at 94, 159, and 197 MeV incident proton energies are presented, and used to evaluate the efficiency of {sup 127}I as a solar neutrino detector. Excitation of the J{sup {pi}}=(3/2){sup +} first excited state at E{sub x}=0.125 MeV in {sup 127}Xe, sensitive to {sup 7}Be solar neutrinos, is evaluated. The sum of Gamow-Teller strength up to particle emission threshold and up to 20 MeV excitation energy are also reported. This paper also provides a new measurement of the Coulomb displacement energy {Delta}E{sub c}, the excitation energy of the isobaric analog state, and the centroid of the Gamow-Teller resonance in {sup 127}Xe. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}

A complete set of spin observables was measured for the 2 H(p,n)2p reaction at 200 MeV at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF) with the high intensity polarized ion source (HIPIOS) and the Indiana Neutron Polarization Facility (INPOL). The incident proton beam was delivered successively in each of the three spin states, normal ( N ), sideways ( S ), and longitudinal ( L ). Two large-volume neutron polarimeters placed along the 0° and 24° beam lines measured the polarizations of the emitted neutrons in each of the three spin states. The measured cross sections and spin observables are compared with three-body Faddeev calculations, which generally agree with the data. The ratio of the longitudinal to transverse response is suppressed rather than enhanced, as predicted by some models.

To date most examinations of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) for use in positron emission tomography have involved studies of arrays or single crystals of Lutetium based scintillators. In this work, we describe measurements bearing on the suitability of SiPMs for use with arrays of pixelated BGO scintillators in preclinical tomographs. Most preclinical scanners rely on photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) coupled to scintillators through a light guide to provide spreading of light over a number of sensor pixels. Because SiPMs have similar gains to PMTs and similar or higher photon detection probability, they could prove an attractive, compact alternative to PMTs for use in preclinical scanners. However, because of the relatively high noise of SiPMs compared to PMTs, combined with the low light output and long decay time of BGO, whether SiPMs can provide an adequate alternative for PMTs in such scanners is an open question. We have examined three commercially available SiPM arrays coupled to a BGO scintillator array. These SiPM sensors are: the Philips digital photon counting SiPM (PDPC), the SensL Matrix9 SiPM array and the Hamamatsu S11828 16 channel Multipixel Photon Counter (MPPC). In particular, we examined the triggering and noise of these devices with respect to the energy and spatial resolution obtained with the BGO array. While we were able to identify the crystals in the BGO array with each sensor, the high noise of these devices when operating at room temperature has a large impact on the energy and spatial resolution. Our results indicate better spatial and energy resolution were obtained with the digital SiPM, which allows suppression of noisy microcells.

PETbox4 is a new, fully tomographic bench top PET scanner dedicated to high sensitivity and high resolution imaging of mice. This manuscript characterizes the performance of the prototype system using the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) NU 4–2008 standards, including studies of sensitivity, spatial resolution, energy resolution, scatter fraction, count-rate performance and image quality. The PETbox4 performance is also compared with the performance of PETbox, a previous generation limited angle tomography system. PETbox4 consists of four opposing flat-panel type detectors arranged in a box like geometry. Each panel is made by a 24 × 50 pixelated array of 1.82 × 1.82 × 7mm bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillation crystals with a crystal pitch of 1.90mm. Each of these scintillation arrays is coupled to two Hamamatsu H8500 photomultiplier tubes via a glass light guide. Volumetric images for a 45 × 45 × 95 mm field of view (FOV) are reconstructed with a maximum likelihood expectation maximization (ML-EM) algorithm incorporating a system model based on a parameterized detector response. With an energy window of 150–650 keV, the peak absolute sensitivity is approximately 18% at the center of FOV. The measured crystal energy resolution ranges from 13.5% to 48.3% full width at half maximum (FWHM), with a mean of 18.0%. The intrinsic detector spatial resolution is 1.5mm FWHM in both transverse and axial directions. The reconstructed image spatial resolution for different locations in the FOV ranges from 1.32mm to 1.93 mm, with an average of 1.46 mm. The peak noise equivalent count rate for the mouse-sized phantom is 35 kcps for a total activity of 1.5 MBq (40 µCi) and the scatter fraction is 28%. The standard deviation in the uniform region of the image quality phantom is 5.7%. The recovery coefficients range from 0.10 to 0.93. In comparison to the first generation two panel PETbox system, PETbox4 achieves substantial improvements on sensitivity and spatial resolution. The overall performance demonstrates that the PETbox4 scanner is suitable for producing high quality images for molecular imaging based biomedical research.

We describe how polarization-transfer data can be used to identify J π = 0 − , 1 − and 2 − components of the Δ T = 1, Δ L = 1, Δ S = 1 isovector “spin-dipole” resonance seen in charge-exchange reactions at medium energies. Data for 40 Ca(p,n) are compared with distorted-wave impulse approximation (DWIA) calculations with theory of finite Fermi systems (TFFS) wave functions.

Double differential cross sections and analyzing powers over the quasielastic region have been measured using the ({ital {rvec p}},{ital n}) reaction on {sup 12}C and {sup nat}Pb. The data were obtained at proton energies of 495 and 795 MeV and cover momentum transfers from 1.0--2.1 fm{sup {minus}1} at 495 MeV data and from 0.0--3.5 fm{sup {minus}1} at 795 MeV. The cross section data are compared to results from a nonrelativistic reaction model that includes contributions from two-step scattering. The analyzing power measurements are compared to a recent relativistic plane-waves model.

We extract the carrier mobility-lifetime products for epitaxially grown GaSb and demonstrate the spectral response to gamma rays of a GaSb p–i–n photodiode with a 2-µm-thick absorption region. Under exposure from 55Fe and 241Am radioactive sources at 140 K, the photodiode exhibits full width at half maximum energy resolutions of 1.238 ± 0.028 and 1.789 ± 0.057 keV at 5.89 and 59.5 keV, respectively. We observe good linearity of the GaSb photodiode across a range of photon energies. The electronic noise and charge trapping noise are measured and shown to be the main components limiting the measured energy resolutions.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a technology that can image the spatial and temporal distribution of radio-labeled biomolecules in-vivo. It is dependent on the coincidence detection of photons emitted due to the annihilation of positrons. Most PET scanners use constant fraction discriminators (CFD) to confirm detector triggering. Following this, a blocking time window is used to allow processing of individual events. However, if a second (or more) event interacts with the detectors within this blocking time window, this method will not be capable to accurately identify its timing or energy, while the energy information for the first event is lost. Both energy and timing of all events are necessary for accurate event detection and localization. In these cases and without a method to identify individual events collected within the blocking time window, all events within the blocking window must be rejected, resulting in a real loss in sensitivity. The information loss in these situations is a significant problem when using high activity sources due to the high probability of event pile-up. To address this issue, we examined the performance of a matched filter when applied to raw pulses obtained from a pulse library derived from the PETBox system. Here, we compare the performance of the matched filter to CFD for event detection, positioning and timing. In addition, we show preliminary results from a real-time digital implementation of the matched filter on the PETBox FPGA. Preliminary results indicate that the matched filter can significantly improve the fidelity of the detection of true events at high count rates, as compared to conventional CFD, while event timing is somewhat compromised for the matched filter.

Virtual Compton Scattering (VCS) on the proton has been studied at Jefferson Lab using the exclusive photon electroproduction reaction (e p --> e p gamma). This paper gives a detailed account of the analysis which has led to the determination of the structure functions P{sub LL}-P{sub TT}/epsilon and P{sub LT}, and the electric and magnetic generalized polarizabilities (GPs) alpha{sub E}(Q{sup 2}) and beta{sub M}(Q{sup 2}) at values of the four-momentum transfer squared Q{sup 2} = 0.92 and 1.76 GeV{sup 2}. These data, together with the results of VCS experiments at lower momenta, help building a coherent picture of the electric and magnetic GPs of the proton over the full measured Q{sup 2}-range, and point to their non-trivial behavior.

PETBox4, currently under development at the Crump Institute is a new tomograph dedicated to preclinical imaging of mice. This system presents a significant improvement on sensitivity and spatial resolution compared to the first generation PETBox. We report here on its design and initial performance characteristics.

OPET is an imaging system that detects both highenergy γ-rays and optical wavelength photons. This system is capable of non-invasively and repeatedly imaging small animal models in-vivo for the presence of γ-rays from PET tracers and optical signals from bioluminescence. OPET consists of six detector modules arranged to form a ring with a bore diameter of 3.5cm, where each module is made up of a 64-channel multichannel photomultiplier tube (PMT) coupled to an 8×8 BGO crystal array. The crystal lengths and widths are 2.15mm x 2.15mm respectively. The crystal heights vary along the face of the PMT such that the array presents a smooth curving profile. The front surface of the crystals is left open to allow optical wavelength photons to enter the detector module. A charge-division readout circuit is implemented to decode the signals from the 64 outputs of each PMT into four signals from which position information is obtained. These signals are amplified, shaped, and digitized, and finally processed using a field programmable gate array (FPGA). Flood images are used to obtain position look-up tables as well as pulse height spectra for each crystal in both PET and Optical mode operation. Basic system performance parameters have been measured for both operation modes of OPET including: sensitivity and count-rate performance. In PET mode the system has a sensitivity of 3.5% at the center of the field of view and an energy resolution around 36%. The sensitivity for optical wavelength photons was measured for each detector using a calibrated light source and varied from 0.6% to 2.0%. The maximum count rate in Optical mode is 106 cps per detector. The first dual-mode data acquisition of OPET was performed using a two chamber phantom. In one chamber was a set of six 0.8mm diameter rods filled with FDG, while the other chamber was filled with an enzyme and substrate used in bioluminescence studies of small animals. Images from both modes of operation are be presented.

BetaBox, a direct detection beta camera utilizing a 13.5×13.5mm2 active area position sensitive avalanche photodiode (PSAPD) (Radiation Monitoring Devices) is currently being developed to image distributions of charged particles in microfluidic chips. The previously reported signal processing chain incorporated charge sensitive amplifiers (Cremat Inc., CR-110) in the frontend readout design. Charge sensitive amplifiers, particularly the CR-110 product, are commonly used as preamplifiers when reading out PSAPDs. However, the 140µs pulse decay of this device suggests a possible count rate limitation in the performance of the beta camera. To address this limitation, the frontend readout was redesigned to replace the charge sensitive amplifiers with op-amps configured as transimpedance amplifiers. We hypothesize that, since the equivalent circuit of the PSAPD appears more like a charge division network loaded by a large semiconductor junction capacitance (∼150 pF) than an APD, this signal source can be optimally processed using the transimpedance amplifier approach. Results show that the designed signal processing chain using a transimpedance amplifier with 100ns RC time constant displays not only comparable image quality to the previous signal chain using the CR-110 but also reduced image distortion at high count rates.

The polarization transfer observable [ital D][sub [ital L][ital L]](0[degree]) has been measured for [sup 2]H([ital [rvec p]],[ital [rvec n]])2[ital p], [sup 12]C([ital [rvec p]],[ital [rvec n]])[sup 12]N, and [sup 14]C([ital [rvec p]],[ital [rvec n]])[sup 14]N reactions with beam energies of 318 and 494 MeV. The deuterium results are in close agreement with free [ital NN] scattering constrained to the [Delta][ital J][sup [pi]]=1[sup +] channel. The results for the carbon targets, however, are systematically more negative than those for deuterium, which suggests a difference between the free and effective nucleon-nucleon interactions. Such a medium modification of the spin-dependent interaction may have important implications for intepretation of other intermediate-energy scattering experiments.

A complete set of polarization-transfer observables has been measured for quasifree (p\ensuremath{\rightarrow},n\ensuremath{\rightarrow}) reactions on $^{2}\mathrm{H}$, $^{12}\mathrm{C}$, and $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$ at a bombarding energy of 495 MeV and a laboratory scattering angle of 18\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. The data span an energy-loss range from 0 to 160 MeV, with a corresponding momentum transfer range of ${\mathit{q}}_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}$=1.7--1.9 ${\mathrm{fm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$. The laboratory observables are used to construct partial cross sections proportional to the nonspin response and three orthogonal spin responses. These results are compared to the transverse spin response measured in deep inelastic electron scattering and to nuclear responses based on the random phase approximation. The polarization observables for all three targets are remarkably similar and reveal no evidence for an enhancement of the spin-longitudinal nuclear response relative to the spin-transverse response. These results suggest the need for substantial modifications to the standard form assumed for the residual particle-hole interaction.

A complete set of polarization transfer observables for quasifree scattering in the ({rvec p}, {rvec n}) reaction at 495 MeV is reported. Measurements were carried out on CD{sub 2}, natural carbon, and calcium targets at a momentum transfer of 1.72 fm{sup {minus}1} using the new Neutron Time-of-Flight facility at LAMPF. The spin-longitudinal and spin-transverse responses are extracted from the data. The ratio of these responses are compared to DWIA-RPA calculations in which the particle-hole interaction is taken to be of the form g{prime}+{pi}+{rho}. No evidence for these RPA correlations is seen in the data at this momentum transfer. 8 refs., 2 figs.

We have made the first measurements of the virtual Compton scattering (VCS) process via the H$(e,e'p)\gamma$ exclusive reaction in the nucleon resonance region, at backward angles. Results are presented for the $W$-dependence at fixed $Q^2=1$ GeV$^2$, and for the $Q^2$-dependence at fixed $W$ near 1.5 GeV. The VCS data show resonant structures in the first and second resonance regions. The observed $Q^2$-dependence is smooth. The measured ratio of H$(e,e'p)\gamma$ to H$(e,e'p)\pi^0$ cross sections emphasizes the different sensitivity of these two reactions to the various nucleon resonances. Finally, when compared to Real Compton Scattering (RCS) at high energy and large angles, our VCS data at the highest $W$ (1.8-1.9 GeV) show a striking $Q^2$- independence, which may suggest a transition to a perturbative scattering mechanism at the quark level., Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Phys.Rev.C

Zero-degree cross sections have been measured for the {sup 11}B({ital p},{ital n}){sup 11}C reaction at bombarding energies of {ital E}{sub {ital p}}=160, 200, 494, 644, and 795 MeV. In addition, spectra have been obtained at laboratory scattering angles of 3{degree} and 5{degree} at 494 MeV, and the transverse spin-flip probability at zero degrees has been measured for {ital E}{sub {ital p}}=160 MeV. These data are used to obtain estimates of the Gamow-Teller transition strength to final states in {sup 11}C up to an excitation energy of {ital E}{sub {ital x}}{approx equal}14 MeV. The uncertainty (1 standard deviation) in the extracted transition strengths is estimated to be in the range (2--8)%. Measured cross sections for the first four excited states in {sup 11}C have been compared to distorted-wave impulse approximation calculations. In this comparison, no evidence is found in the cross-section data for certain effects associated with knock-on exchange and noncentral interactions.

Cross sections at 0{degree} for the pure Fermi (0{sup +}, 2.31, MeV) and Gamow-Teller (1{sup +}, 3.95 MeV) states in the {sup 14}C({ital p},{ital n}){sup 14}N reaction have been measured at {ital E}{sub {ital p}}=494, 644, and 795 MeV using the LAMPF neutron time-of-flight facility with a new 617-m neutron flight path. The measured cross sections per unit transition strength, {cflx {sigma}}, provide a measure of the isovector spin-flip and non-spin-flip central components of the effective nucleon-nucleon interaction. Cross sections and the ratio {ital R}{sup 2}={cflx {sigma}}{sub GT}/{cflx {sigma}}{sub F} are compared to lower-energy measurements and to calculations using a free {ital NN} {ital t} matrix.

Differential-cross-section distributions for the {sup 7}Li({ital p},{ital n}){sup 7}Be(g.s.+0.43-MeV) reaction have been measured for {ital E}{sub {ital p}}=80, 120, 160, 200, 494, 644, and 795 MeV. These distributions have been integrated and normalized to independent values for the total cross section obtained from parametrizations of {sup 7}Li({ital p},{ital n}) activation measurements. Zero-degree cross sections obtained from this normalization are reported.

Purpose: To examine the effect of different scintillator surface treatments (BGO crystals) on the fraction of scintillation photons that exit the crystal and reach the photodetector (SiPM). Methods: Positron Emission Tomography is based on the detection of light that exits scintillator crystals, after annihilation photons deposit energy inside these crystals. A considerable fraction of the scintillation light gets trapped or absorbed after going through multiple internal reflections on the interfaces surrounding the crystals. BGO scintillator crystals generate considerably less scintillation light than crystals made of LSO and its variants. Therefore, it is crucial that the small amount of light produced by BGO exits towards the light detector. The surface treatment of scintillator crystals is among the factors affecting the ability of scintillation light to reach the detectors. In this study, we analyze the effect of different crystal surface treatments on the fraction of scintillation light that is detected by the solid state photodetector (SiPM), once energy is deposited inside a BGO crystal. Simulations were performed by a Monte Carlo based software named GATE, and validated by measurements from individual BGO crystals coupled to Philips digital-SiPM sensor (DPC-3200). Results: The results showed an increment in light collection of about 4 percent when only the exit face of the BGO crystal, is unpolished; compared to when all the faces are polished. However, leaving several faces unpolished caused a reduction of at least 10 percent of light output when the interaction occurs as far from the exit face of the crystal as possible compared to when it occurs very close to the exit face. Conclusion: This work demonstrates the advantages on light collection from leaving unpolished the exit face of BGO crystals. The configuration with best light output will be used to obtain flood images from BGO crystal arrays coupled to SiPM sensors.

This paper was published online on 20 May 2005 without several of the authors' corrections incorporated. Equation (13) has been replaced. The captions of Figs. 16--18 have also been replaced. Typographical errors on pages 4, 6, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, and 24 have all been corrected. The paper has been corrected as of 8 June 2005. The text is correct in the printed version of the journal.

The ratio of the proton elastic electromagnetic form factors, GEp/GMp, was obtained by measuring Pt and P, the transverse and longitudinal recoil proton polarization components, respectively, for the elastic epepreaction in the four-momentum transfer squared range of 0.5 to 3.5 GeV2. In the single-photon exchange approximation, GEp/GMp is directly proportional to Pt/P. The simultaneous measurement of Pt and P in a polarimeter reduces systematic uncertainties. The results for GEp/GMp show a systematic decrease with increasing Q2, indicating for the first time a definite difference in the distribution of charge and magnetization in the proton. The data have been reanalyzed and their systematic uncertainties have become significantly smaller than those reported previously. (Less)

The physics program in Hall A at Jefferson Lab commenced in the summer of 1997 with a detailed investigation of the ^(16)O(e,e′p) reaction in quasielastic, constant (q,ω) kinematics at Q^2≈0.8(GeV/c)^2, q≈1GeV/c, and ω≈445MeV. Use of a self-calibrating, self-normalizing, thin-film waterfall target enabled a systematically rigorous measurement. Five-fold differential cross-section data for the removal of protons from the 1p-shell have been obtained for 0

We have measured the parity-violating electroweak asymmetry in the elastic scattering of polarized electrons from protons. Significant contributions to this asymmetry could arise from the contributions of strange form factors in the nucleon. The measured asymmetry is $A=\ensuremath{-}15.05\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.98(\mathrm{stat})\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.56(\mathrm{syst})\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ppm}$ at the kinematic point $⟨{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{\mathrm{lab}}⟩=12.3\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ and $⟨{Q}^{2}⟩=0.477\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{(\mathrm{GeV}∕c)}^{2}$. Based on these data as well as data on electromagnetic form factors, we extract the linear combination of strange form factors ${G}_{E}^{s}+0.392{G}_{M}^{s}=0.014\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.020\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.010$, where the first error arises from this experiment and the second arises from the electromagnetic form factor data. This paper provides a full description of the special experimental techniques employed for precisely measuring the small asymmetry, including the first use of a strained GaAs crystal and a laser-Compton polarimeter in a fixed target parity-violation experiment.

The generalized forward spin polarizabilities $\gamma_0$ and $\delta_{LT}$ of the neutron have been extracted for the first time in a $Q^2$ range from 0.1 to 0.9 GeV$^2$. Since $\gamma_0$ is sensitive to nucleon resonances and $\delta_{LT}$ is insensitive to the $\Delta$ resonance, it is expected that the pair of forward spin polarizabilities should provide benchmark tests of the current understanding of the chiral dynamics of QCD. The new results on $\delta_{LT}$ show significant disagreement with Chiral Perturbation Theory calculations, while the data for $\gamma_0$ at low $Q^2$ are in good agreement with a next-to-lead order Relativistic Baryon Chiral Perturbation theory calculation. The data show good agreement with the phenomenological MAID model., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, corrected typo in author name, published in PRL

The design of an imaging system capable of detecting both high-energy /spl gamma/-rays and optical wavelength photons is underway at the UCLA Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging. This system, which we call optical PET (OPET), will be capable of noninvasively and repeatedly imaging small animal models in vivo for the presence of PET and optical signals. In this study, we describe the physical principles behind the operation of the OPET imaging system and discuss the design concept for one of the detector modules. Additionally, we demonstrate the operation of an initial prototype detector module for simultaneous detection and imaging of annihilation radiation and single optical photons emanating from separate sources. These results indicate that the construction of an imaging system based on this detector technology is feasible.