$3.4M to advance gamma-ray detector technology
Project builds on decades of advancement and a spinout company.
With a $3.4 million contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), University of Michigan researchers are working to improve the sensitivity and durability of their gamma-ray detector technology that’s used today by over 75% of US nuclear power plants.
Zhong He, professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences, and his group have spent two decades developing novel 3-D cadmium zinc telluride gamma ray detectors that can pinpoint the exact location and type of special nuclear materials. They’ve commercialized the technology through U-M startup H3D. In addition to nuclear power plant operators, H3D’s customers include International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors working on nuclear nonproliferation.
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With this contract, He and his team aim to improve the detector’s efficiency and sensitivity to high energy gamma rays, which carry key aspects of special nuclear material isotope fingerprints. They’re also improving its robustness in hot temperatures up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. In the field—such as outdoors, in deserts, or near reactors—detector performance can degrade if temperatures rise. Read the full article.
This is a summary of the article $3.4M for advancement of 3D CdZnTe gamma-ray detector technology by Sara Norman.