A prototype of radiation imaging detector using silicon strip sensors

The aim of this work is to evaluate the performance of a strip sensor with a single photon counting data acquisition system based on VA1 readout chips to study the feasibility of a silicon microstrip detector for medical application. The sensor is an AC-coupled single-sided microstrip sensor and the active area of the sensor is 32.0 mm×32.0 mm with a thickness of 380 μm. The sensor has 64 readout strips with a pitch of 500 μm. The sensor was biased at 45 V and the experiment was performed at room temperature. Two silicon strip sensors were mounted perpendicularly one another to get two-dimensional position information with a 5 mm space gap. Two low noise analog ASICs, VA1 chips, were used for signal readout of the strip sensor. The assembly of sensors and readout electronics was housed in an Al light-tight box. A CsI(Tl) scintillation crystal and a 2-in. photomultiplier tube were used to trigger signal events. The data acquisition system was based on a 64 MHz FADC and control softwares for the PC-Linux platform. Imaging tests were performed by using a lead phantom with a ⁹⁰Sr radioactive source and a 45 MeV proton beam at Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Science in Seoul, respectively. Results of the S/N ratio measurement and phantom images are presented.