Table top muon tomograpghy scanner

Any project can be exciting but those which are looking to generate a completely new set-up always grab some attention from our beta-rooted brains. Add cosmic radiation into the mix and our interest will be peaked! Zach’s master’s thesis project did precisely that as he aimed to generate experimental hardware for the experimental physics department. ​

This experiment takes advantage of naturally produced muons from cosmic rays that originate from outside our solar system. The experiment measures muons through the scintillation process (The muon hits this surface and produces a photon) of certain materials. This photon is sent to a Photomultiplier Tube to be amplified. The amplified signal is then sent to an oscilloscope to be visualized and stored. Different types of materials will block or allow muons to travel through them based on their density. By measuring materials over a longer period a picture can be made from how often a muon passes through the material in a specific point. This is repeated to create a shadow image which can show a materials density. ​

This project is designed with 4 scintillators stacked on top of each other. Each scintillator will have a photo-multiplier attached to it (PMT for short). This works by having two of the inner scintillators scan back-and-fourth to generate a higher resolution image of the object it is scanning. The scanning will be slow, since it takes hours to collect enough muons per location.​

This project highlights the range and scope of what can be built in a proto lab. This project tries to measure space radiation for material properties, what could be more out of this world than that?

For further documentation feel free to visit our official LPL GitHub page.

Project photo collection

Point of contact

• Zach Meredith

  project contributor