The principle objective of this project is to tune existing techniques and transfer an optimised process for the wafer-scale processing of radiation detector structures on material produced by Kromek. This material is produced by a novel technique based on Physical Vapour Transport that enables the growth of high quality material on matched seed substrates of a second material. . The technology is proprietary to Kromek and places them in a unique position to exploit a potential market of 200 M$ per year (Frost & Sullivan) in the area of homeland security (and many medical applications). CZT material grown from the melt has always been difficult to grow in single crystals. 75 mm wafers normally consist of a few large crystals and material that is processed into radiation detectors is normally hand picked from pre-selected wafers. Each detector is processed on the selected wafer taking care to position the active part of the detector away from any crystal boundary and subsequently cut from the wafer. This method of detector production is very effort intensive and exceedingly expensive. There has been no possibility to date to make this process more efficient because of the artisanal nature of the fabrication required to process wafers where there is more than one crystal present. The availability of 100 mm wafers of high quality CZT will enable this to change and enable radical improvements to the process of detector fabrication and its cost. The James Watt NanoFabrication Centre at the University of Glasgow offers a uniquely equipped facility for the optimization and transfer of processes already developed at the Centre to the fabrication of high quality detector structures on the material grown by Kromek. The Centre comprises 750 m2 of clean rooms equipped with state of the art semiconductor process tools that cover the entire range of processes required to produce detector structures. The complete process equipment chain from design software through e-beam writer for mask production, photolithography, metal and dielectric deposition and reactive ion etching is available at the Centre with dedicated staff support to maintain the process tools. This proposal will adapt the techniques required for the successful processing of detectors on 100 mm wafers of CZT from Kromek and then transfer this process to the company so that they are in a position to add value to their material and more fully exploit the market for highly efficient radiation detectors, thereby maximizing the return to the company.

Transuranic elements like Plutonium are radioactive materials which spontaneously emit neutrons. A neutron detector is therefore a crucial tool to detect illicit trafficking of radioactive materials that could be used to make nuclear or dirty bombs. It is also an important tool for radio-protection at nuclear facilities. Currently most neutron detectors in use are based on Helium-3 gas tubes. The current shortage of Helium-3 means that the supply can no longer meet the demand. Alternative technologies are needed in order to replace Helium-3 systems already deployed. This project aims to replace successfully Helium-3 detectors used as hand held and backpack system by a new technology based on layers of neutron sensitive material mixed with highly efficient scintillator. The technology is easily scalable and the design flexible enough to meet a wide range of detector requirements.

This knowledge exchange project seeks to develop an optimised Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) system for low dose molecular breast imaging (MBI). Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with 1 in 8 women developing the disease. Approximately 50% of women of screening age have mammographically dense breasts but conventional X-ray mammography has reduced diagnostic performance for these patients. This limitation can be overcome by using MBI, a technique in which a molecular tracer selectively targets malignant breast tissue to provide high-resolution functional images. Earlier diagnosis and more accurate staging of the disease using optimised MBI systems will potentially lead to better patient outcomes and reduced mortality rates. The proposed research will improve the imaging performance of MBI, which will increase the probability of detecting lesions in the breast. This will be based on exploiting our knowledge of how radiation interacts in the imaging system.

Nowadays numerous applications are employing ionising radiation as a non destructive probe to obtain information that is not available through visual inspection. These applications range from medical imaging to industrial tomography and homeland security as well as archeometry and history of art. Furthermore, ionising radiation plays a key role in the quest for answering a wide range of fundamental physics questions. There are numerous examples of large-scale physics experiments around world to probe, for example, nuclear structure, particle physics or astrophysics through measurements with ionising radiation. Driven by these demanding applications and fundamental research, the technology for detecting ionising radiation has seen a remarkable progress in recent years. This progress, however, has occurred in many cases in academia and industry in parallel and the transfer of knowledge between them has been limited. There is a great potential gain and impact in building strong bridges between the two communities that will facilitate the knowledge transfer. In this particular project we are interested in transferring the technology on position sensitive scintillator detectors and their use in gamma-ray imaging. This state-of-the-art technology has been developed within the academic community and is already being used in fundamental physics experiments. The transfer of this technology to industry will enable applications employing gamma-ray detection to reach a higher level of sensitivity and in particular it will impact directly areas such as medical imaging and nuclear security.

The funded knowledge exchange project seeks to develop an optimised Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) system for low dose molecular breast imaging (MBI). Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with 1 in 8 women developing the disease. Approximately 50% of women of screening age have mammographically dense breasts but conventional X-ray mammography has reduced diagnostic performance for these patients. This limitation can be overcome by using MBI, a technique in which a molecular tracer selectively targets malignant breast tissue to provide high-resolution functional images. Earlier diagnosis and more accurate staging of the disease using optimised MBI systems will potentially lead to better patient outcomes and reduced mortality rates. The proposed research will improve the imaging performance of MBI, which will increase the probability of detecting lesions in the breast. This will be based on exploiting our knowledge of how radiation interacts in the imaging system. The additional research to be undertaken with the requested equipment in this new call will be to explore the possibility of using the techniques to enhance imaging performance for medical applications such as diagnosis of Alzheimer's and cardiac disease.