Imaging by muons and their induced secondary particles - A novel technique

Abstract

© 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab. Muography is a well established method to obtain 3D images of large objects (e.g. volcanoes and large buildings) without any additional particle source, taking advantage of the presence of cosmic muons. The underlying principle of muography is the measurement of individual muon tracks and the determination of their absorption or scattering. These processes depend on the material that they have travelled through. The novel method discussed is based on the measurement of the muon tracks and of the corresponding particles that were produced by the muons themselves in the investigated target. As muons pass through matter they interact with matter by ionization, bremsstrahlung, pair production and nuclear interactions. Our experimental setup is designed in a way to measure both the primary muons and the created secondaries (mostly electrons and gammas). The tracks of the muons are determined by a special kind of Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers (MWPC) called CCC (Close Cathode Chamber). The secondary particles produced in the target are measured by four plastic scintillators placed around the target. The CCC chambers and the scintillators are used in coincidence in order to gather data about muons that passed through the target. As cross sections of the described processes vary by the density and the atomic number of materials this technique could be used to investigate the material content of the target.