Radiation Detectors (RadDet | SPA6309)

Year: 3 | Semester: B | Level: 6 | Credits: 15

Course organiser: Dr Teppei Katori | Course deputy: Dr Eram Rizvi

Synopsis:

The course covers the basic concepts of interaction between radiation and matter, including the Bethe-Block formula, Cherenkov radiation, Bremsstrahlung, multiple Coulomb scattering and the interaction of photons. A range of particle detectors such as scintillation counters and photomultipliers, time-of-flight, ionization and drift chambers, semiconductor detectors, transition radiation detectors, electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters, will be discussed in detail with particular examples of detectors currently operating at the Large Hadron Collider and elsewhere. During the course a number of related topics such as particle accelerators and event triggering will also be discussed.

Aims:

To provide an introduction to the physics mechanisms behind particle detectors, the exploitation of those mechanisms in actual devices and the combination of detectors in an experimental apparatus.

Outcomes:

At the end of this module students will be able to: 1. Understand how energetic particles interact with matter 2. Describe how energy loss depends on the properties of the traversing particle 3. be familiar with methods by which atomic ionisation and excitation are utilised in solid, liquid and gaseous detectors 4. Understand coherent effects in matter, and their exploitation in Cherenkov and transition radiation detectors 5. Appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of shower detectors or calorimeters 6. Understand basic design criteria for practical detectors 7. Recognise appropriate applications for the different types of detectors 8. be able to evaluate the performance of various simple detector designs

Recommended books:

The main textbook is:
W.R. Leo Techniques for Nuclear and Particle Physics Experiments, Springer-Verlag (1994)

Additional reference books:

D. Green, The Physics of Particle Detectors, Cambridge University Press (2000) K. Kleinknecht, Detectors for particle radiation, Cambridge University Press (1998) G. Knoll, Radiation Detection and Measurement, Wiley (1989) E. Wilson, An introduction to Particle Accelerators, Oxford University Press (2001)