This study is engaged in express emergency methods to monitor internal contamination of people in the event of the radiological emergency.

Le but de l'expérience EDELWEISS est la détection directe de matière noire sousforme de WIMPs, par l'étude de leur diffusion élastique sur les noyaux de germanium des détecteurs bolomètriques. Le plus problématique des bruits de fond provient des neutrons pouvant mimer l'interaction d'un WIMP dans un détecteur. Ces neutrons sont notamment produits par les rares muons cosmiques de haute énergie qui atteignent le laboratoire souterrain malgré les 4800 m w.e. de roche. Les muons résiduels sont détectés par un système veto de 46 modules de scintillateur plastique entourant l'expérience, qui permet de rejeter la plupart du bruit de fond associé. La détermination précise du bruit de fond neutron résiduel induit par ces muons dans EDELWEISS-III, essentielle pour l'identification des WIMPs, est le but de cette thèse. Le taux de bruit de fond dépend de la géométrie de l'expérience ainsi que des matériaux utilisés, qui ont subi d'importantes modifications depuis EDELWEISS-II. Des simulations GEANT4 du passage des muons dans la nouvelle géométrie ont été réalisées afin d'extraire le taux d'événements induits par les muons dans les bolomètres. Ce taux est en bon accord avec le taux mesuré extrait des données du Run308. En parallèle, une limite inférieure sur l'efficacité du veto muon a été extraite à partir des données bolomètres. Une nouvelle méthode basée sur l'utilisation d'une source d'AmBe a été développée afin d'extraire l'efficacité de chaque module de la simulation. À partir de ces résultats, il a été montré que le bruit de fond attendu est négligeable pour la recherche de WIMPs avec les données du Run308 et ne limitera pas la sensibilité future d'EDELWEISS-III / The aim of the EDELWEISS-III experiment is to detect the elastic scattering of WIMPs from the galactic dark matter halo on germanium bolometers. The most problematic background arises from neutrons, which can mimic a WIMP interaction in a detector. Neutrons are notably induced by high energy cosmic ray muons reaching the underground laboratory despite the 4800 m w.e. of rock overburdened. Remaining muons are tagged using an active muon-veto system of 46 plastic scintillator modules surrounding the experiment, which allows to reject most of the associated background. The goal of this thesis was to give a precise estimation of the irreducible muon-induced neutron background, needed to identify a potential WIMP signal. The expected background depends on the geometry of the experiment as well as on the used materials, both strongly modified since EDELWEISS-II. Geant4-based simulations of muons through the modified geometry were performed to derive the rate of events induced by muons in the bolometer array. This rate has been shown to be in good agreement with the measured one extracted from the Run308 data. In parallel, a lower limit on the muon-veto efficiency was derived using bolometer data only. A new method based on an AmBe source was developed to extract precisely the detection efficiency of individual modules from the simulation. From these results, it was shown that the expected background is negligible for the WIMP search analyses performed with the Run308 data and won't limit the future sensitivity of the EDELWEISS-III experiment

La mesure récente de l'angle de mélange theta-13, à laquelle l'expérience Double Chooz contribue, a ouvert la voie aux futures expériences de la physique des neutrinos. Dans ce manuscrit, la caractérisation de certains bruits de l'expérience sont décrits. Les muons cosmiques qui s'arrêtent et se désintègrent dans le détecteur sont mal reconstruits, résultant en distorsion de la distribution temporelle des signaux laquelle peut être utilisée pour identifier ce type de fond. Les neutrons rapides créés par spallation par les muons cosmiques produisent de nombreux protons de recul qui peuvent entraîner un décalage dans la distribution temporelle des signaux et ainsi être identifiés. Ces distributions temporelles ont aussi été utilisées pour identifier la formation de l'état d'orthopositronium en observant et en mesurant un délai entre l'ionisation du positron et l'annihilation de celui-ci, pouvant permettre une séparation positron-électron. / The measurement of the theta-13 mixing angle, to which the Double Chooz experiment contributed, paves the way to future findings in neutrino physics. In this manuscript, we describe the characterization of some Double Chooz backgrounds. Cosmic muons that stop and decay in the detector are characterized by anisotropic emission of the scintillation light, causing the vertex to be poorly reconstructed. The resulting pulse shape distortion can be used to tag and remove such background. Fast spallation neutrons producing multiple recoil protons may produce a similar distortion in the pulse shape and can also be tagged. Pulse shapes are also used to identify the formation of ortho-positronium. The tagging of such electron-positron bound state is made possible by the induced distortion in the pulse shape due to the delay in the positron annihilation, and can be used for an electron-positron separation.

L’anomalie des antineutrinos de réacteurs (RAA) a été révélée en 2011 suite à une réévaluation de la prédiction des spectres associés. Elle indique un déficit de 6% dans les taux mesurés auprès de réacteurs. Une explication consiste en l’introduction d’un neutrino stérile à l’eV, ne se manifestant que par le mécanisme d’oscillations. L’expérience STEREO a été conçue pour explorer l’espace des paramètres d’oscillations indiqués par la RAA, en plaçant une cible segmentée à 10 m du cœur quasiment pur en uranium 235 de l’ILL, à Grenoble. Les antineutrinos sont détectés par désintégration bêta inverse (IBD) dans du liquide scintillant dopé au gadolinium. Si elle existe, une oscillation se développerait alors le long des six cellules identiques de la cible. La comparaison relative de leurs spectres d’antineutrinos en énergie permet de tester l’hypothèse d’une oscillation en s’affranchissant des prédictions et avec des incertitudes systématiques réduites. Les forts rendements lumineux des liquides permettent d’atteindre de bonnes résolutions en énergie, nécessaires pour la sensibilité de la mesure. Les cellules sont séparées optiquement par des plaques hautement réfléchissantes; cette technologie a été validée sur cellule prototype dans un premier temps lors de cette thèse. Un modèle effectif pour ces parois optiques a été inclus à la simulation, et les détails de la géométrie ont été implémentés. La deuxième partie de ce travail est orientée vers l’analyse des données. La signature de l’IBD est un signal en deux temps, requérant un algorithme de recherche de paires pour extraire les candidats antineutrino. Le programme dédié est optimisé pour l’application de sélections d’isolations temporelles, permettant de se débarrasser de la majeure partie du bruit de fond d’origine cosmique. Le bruit de fond corrélé résiduel dans la région d’intérêt provient de désintégrations de muons et de réactions induites par des neutrons. Une modélisation des figures de discrimination en forme des signaux (PSD) de ce bruit de fond est employée pour extraire le signal antineutrino. Basée sur les spectres qui en résultent, les premières analyses d’oscillations de STEREO rejettent le meilleur ajustement de la RAA à 98% de niveau de confiance. / The Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly (RAA) was highlighted in 2011, when a reevaluated prediction of reactor antineutrinos spectra showed a 6% deficit in the rates observed by previous reactor experiments. A possible explanation for this anomaly consists in introducing a sterile neutrino state at the eV mass scale, participating to the neutrino oscillations mecanism only. The STEREO experiment has been designed to probe the phase-space region indicated by the RAA, by placing a segmented antineutrino target at 10m from the virtually pure uranium 235 compact core of the ILL research reactor facility, in Grenoble. Antineutrinos are detected via inverse beta decay (IBD) in gadolinium-doped liquid scintillator. An oscillation pattern - if any - would develop along the six identical target cells. The relative comparison of their energy distributions allows to test the sterile neutrino hypothesis with reduced systematic uncertainties and without referring to an external prediction. High light yields of the liquids enable to reach good energy resolutions, needed for the sensibility of the measurement. Cells are optically separated thanks to highly reflective plates; this technology has been validated on a prototype cell in the first stage of this thesis. An effective model of these walls has been included in the simulation, and details of the geometry have been carefully implemented. The second part of this work focuses on data analysis. The IBD signature is a two-fold signal, requiring a proper pair search algorithm for extracting the antineutrinos candidates. The dedicated software is optimized to apply specific temporal isolation selections, which allow to get rid of the majority of the background produced by cosmic events. The residual correlated background in the region of interest comes from muon decays and neutron induced reactions. A modelisation of the Pulse Shape Discrimination (PSD) distributions of this background is used to extract the antineutrino signal. Based on the resulting spectra, the first STEREO oscillation analysis rejects the RAA best fit point at 98% of confidence level.

This master`s thesis analyzes the pressure distribution on the premises of scintillation detector secondary electron in the variant with three aperture. The aim of this study is analyzing the fluid flow depending on the application of the third aperture in the entrance of the detector, thus creating more self-pumped chamber, which is responsible for ensuring a better distribution of pressure in the premises of the detector. The result of the analysis would be determining how to change parameters within the detector. If it is found that application of the third aperture has a positive effect on water flow in the premises of the detector, this arrangement may be used for improvement of the detector. Master`s thesis is divided into several chapters. First describes the basic principles of electron microscopy, including sample preparation, conditions for the proper functioning of microscopes and sharing different types of electron microscopes. The next chapters describe briefly the physical descriptions of gases flow in low pressures and small apertures, the mathematical models and simulation software used in this analysis. The analysis is done in SolidWorks with the module called Cosmos FloSimulation. The conclusion summarizes the results of the analysis, including graphical representations of simulation.

Diplomová práce se zabývá detektory rentgenového záření pro mikro-CT systémy. Teoretická část zahrnuje standartní typy rentgenových detektorů a požadavky na kvalitu obrazu pro výslednou 3D rekonstrukci. V závěru jsou popsány fyzikální parametry reálných detektorů a metody jejich měření a vyhodnocení.

Ultra-high dose rate proton radiation has the potential to improve cancer treatment by reducing the normal tissue complication probability and, at the same time, reaching the tumor control probability known from conventional photon radiation therapy. Here, the ultra-high dose rate leads to normal tissue sparing via the FLASH effect. Before a clinical implementation is possible, the proton FLASH effect requires translational research via in-vivo irradiation studies with small animals. Laser plasma-based accelerators (LPAs) for protons offer unique opportunities for studying the proton FLASH effect, since the proton dose rate at LAPs is in the order of 10^9 Gy/s, which is unreached at conventional medical proton accelerators. Different to medical proton accelerators, LPAs are operated in a pulsed mode and feature a lower beam stability caused by inherent pulse-to-pulse fluctuations of the acceleration process. To ensure successful in-vivo irradiation studies, advanced beam delivery, monitoring and dosimetry concepts for an online-monitored application of the 3D dose distribution in the target volume (TV) of the in-vivo sample are needed. The detectors and dosimetric concept developed in this thesis enable the world wide frst pilot radiobiological in-vivo study with LPA protons, where mouse ear tumors are irradiated with ultra-high dose rate proton pulses. For performing the radiobiological study, the ALBUS-2S (Advanced Laser-driven Beamlines for User-specifc Studies - 2 Solenoids) beamline is used, which is installed at the compact petawatt (PW) laser system DRACO (Dresden laser acceleration source) at HZDR (Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf). In this thesis, a scintillator-based time-of-fight (ToF) beam monitoring sytem (BMS) is developed, which records single-pulse proton energy spectra in transmission at the ALBUS-2S beamline. A relative energy uncertainty of 5.5 % (1σ) is reached for the ToF BMS, allowing for a Monte Carlo simulation-based prediction of depth dose profiles at the irradiation site. The ToF BMS is used for characterization of the ALBUS-2S LPA beamline for application-oriented parameters, in order to qualify the LPA proton source for radiobiological in-vivo studies. Furthermore, a dosimetry and beam monitoring concept for in-vivo irradiations of small target volumes with LPA protons is presented in this thesis. With the overall relative dose uncertainty of 7.4 % (2σ) for the specifc mouse ear tumor irradiation scenario, the concept enables verifcation of accurate volumetric dose delivery to the mm-scale TVs. In addition, tomography-based approaches with scintillators are investigated as detectors for online 3D dose measurement at LPAs. The miniature scintillator dosimeter (miniSCIDOM) detector, which is developed in the scope of this thesis, is used for online 3D dose measurements in 1 cm^3 volumes with < 1 mm^3 resolution at the irradiation site of the ALBUS-2S beamline. For online 3D dose measurements directly behind the LPA proton source of the DRACO PW laser system, the optical cone beam tomograph for proton online dosimetry (OCTOPOD) detector is developed. The OCTOPOD detector has a sensitive volume of 5 cm-diameter and water equivalent thickness of 4.3 cm, which is sufficient to stop 70 MeV protons. It is designed to reach a spatial resolution of 1 mm^3. The detectors developed in this thesis are optimized tools for source-to-sample characterization of LPA beamlines and hence are an essential contribution for radiobiological in-vivo studies with LPA protons.

Medidas da radiação gama ambiental foram feitas em algumas regiões da cidade de Ribeirão Preto-SP, de forma a contribuir para o conhecimento acerca dos níveis desse tipo de radiação no estado de São Paulo e no território brasileiro. Escolheu-se determinar as médias anuais de dose efetiva e dose efetiva coletiva, uma vez que estas grandezas levam em conta o risco de possíveis efeitos biológicos associados a exposição à radiação ionizante. Para determinar os valores dessas grandezas, os diversos setores censitários das regiões selecionadas foram mapeados e avaliados individualmente, de acordo com a taxa de dose média absorvida no ar e número de habitantes de cada setor. Utilizou-se um sistema de detecção da radiação gama baseado em cintilador plástico e GPS, que possibilitaram a medida da taxa de dose absorvida no ar a cada segundo, para as coordenadas geográficas selecionadas. Embora este sistema tenha sido desenvolvido para a detecção de fontes artificiais perdidas, ou seja, não tem o objetivo principal de fazer medidas dosimétricas da radiação gama natural, teve seus modos de leitura calibrados e comparados com resultados da literatura (com uma incerteza média de 8,7 %). Dos resultados obtidos, dos mapeamentos realizados nas regiões consideradas, as médias anuais da dose efetiva e dose efetiva coletiva para ambientes ao ar livre foram encontradas com os valores 0,034 ± 0,004 mSv/ano e 25,62 ± 9,25 homem.mSv/ano respectivamente, sendo a primeira cerca da metade da média mundial da dose efetiva recomendada pela UNSCEAR. As médias obtidas são baixas quando comparadas às encontradas em outros estudos sobre dose de radiação gama ao ar livre no estado de São Paulo e em outras regiões do território brasileiro (sendo, de 1,7 até 5,6 vezes menor). / Gamma environmental radiation measurements were done for some urban regions in the city of Ribeirão Preto-SP, in order to contribute with this knowledge on the annual ambiental values of this type of radiation in the São Paulo state and in the Brazilian territory. The quantities chosen were effective dose and effective collective dose, once they take into account the possible biologic damage related to the ionizing radiation energy absorbed. For the assessments of these quantities, selected census sectors were initially mapped out, regarding their average absorbed dose in air and the number of inhabitants living in each one of the sectors. The detector system used is based on an organic plastic scintillator and a GPS, that allows to obtain the absorbed dose rate for each second and their respective geographic coordinates. Even though this system was developed to detect missing artificial gamma sources, in other words, its main function is not for dosimetric measurements, both display modes were calibrated in exposure rate (R/h) and absorbed dose rate (Gy/h) and their readings were compared to results from the literature (with an average uncertainty of 8.7%). From the mapping results of the selected regions, the annual average effective dose and effective collective dose for outdoor environments were obtained, respectively as 0.034 ± 0.004 mSv/year and 25.62 ± 9.25 man.mSv/year. The value for the first average dose is lower (about half) than the worldwide average value published by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), also lower than the values from other regions in the national territory, regarding the gamma dose rate in outdoor environments (from 1.7 up to 5.6 times lower).

Le détecteur MINOS a été développé jusqu'à mi-2013 pour la spectroscopie γ prompte de noyaux très exotiques à partir de réactions d’arrachage de protons. Il est composé d'une cible épaisse d'hydrogène liquide pour augmenter la luminosité et d’une chambre à projection temporelle (TPC) pour reconstruire la position du vertex de réaction et de compenser l'effet de la cible épaisse sur la correction Doppler.La chambre à projection temporelle a été développée avec l'expertise du CEA-Irfu sur les détecteurs gazeux de type Micromegas. Dans un premier temps, différentes solutions pour la TPC ont été testées dans une chambre d'essai avec une source α et des mesures de rayons cosmiques. Des muons cosmiques ont été détectés pour la première fois en utilisant la chambre d'essai en début 2013 et ont validé l'utilisation d'un plan de détection Micromegas. Le premier prototype de TPC a été achevé en mai 2013 et nous avons utilisé un banc de rayons cosmiques pour estimer l’efficacité de la TPC.MINOS a ensuite été expédié au Japon et un test de performance sous faisceau a été réalisée à l'installation médicale HIMAC (Chiba, Japon) avec deux cibles minces au lieu de la cible épaisse d'hydrogène pour valider l'algorithme de reconstruction et la résolution de la position du vertex. Un algorithme de reconstruction de traces basé sur la transformée de Hough a été mis au point pour l'analyse des données, testé avec ces données, et comparé à des simulations.La première campagne de physique avec MINOS a eu lieu en mai 2014, avec SEASTAR. Elle s’est concentrée sur la première spectroscopie des ⁶ ⁶ Cr, ⁷⁰,⁷²Fe et ⁷⁸Ni. L'analyse de la spectroscopie du ⁶ ⁶Cr a révélé deux transitions, assignées aux deux premiers états excités. Une interprétation avec des calculs de modèle en couches montre que le maximum de collectivité quadripolaire se produit à N = 40 le long de la chaîne isotopique de chrome.Le ⁶ ⁶Cr est toujours placé dans la région de l’Îlot d’Inversion à N = 40 et les calculs de modèle en couches ainsi que la comparaison avec des calculs basés sur HFB suggèrent une extension de cet Îlot d’Inversion vers N = 50 en dessous du ⁷⁸Ni. L'analyse des ⁷⁰,⁷²Fe effectuée par C. Louchart (TU Darmstadt, Allemagne) révèle la même tendance que pour les isotopes de chrome. Les données et notre interprétation par le modèle en couches suggère une grande collectivité les Cr et Fe riches en neutrons, éventuellement jusqu'à N = 50, ce qui remettrait en cause la solidité de la fermeture de couche N = 50 en dessous du ⁷⁸Ni. / The MINOS device has been developed until mid-2013 for in-beam γ spectroscopy of very exotic nuclei from proton knockout reactions. It is composed of a thick liquid hydrogen target to achieve higher luminosities and a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) to reconstruct the vertex position and compensate for the thick target effect on the Doppler correction.The Time Projection Chamber has been developed with the expertise of CEA-IRFU in gas detectors and Micromegas detectors. At first, different solutions for the TPC were tested in a test chamber with an α source and cosmic-ray measurements. Cosmic rays were detected for the first time using the test chamber in early 2013 and validated the use of a Micromegas detection plane. The first TPC prototype was finished in May 2013, and we used a cosmic-ray bench to estimate the effiiciency of the TPC. The MINOS device was then shipped to Japan and an in-beam performance test was performed at the HIMAC medical facility (Chiba, Japan) with two thin targets instead of the thick hydrogen target to validate the tracking algorithm and the vertex position resolution. A tracking algorithm for the offline analysis based on the Hough transform has been developed, tested with the data, and compared with simulations.The first physics campaign using MINOS took place in May 2014 with SEASTAR. It focused on the first spectroscopy of ⁶ ⁶ Cr, ⁷⁰,⁷²Fe, and ⁷⁸Ni. The analysis of the ⁶⁶Cr spectroscopy revealed two transitions, assigned to the two first excited states. An interpretation with shell model calculations shows that the maximum of quadrupole collectivity occurs at N=40 along the Cr isotopic chain.⁶⁶Cr is still placed in the Island of Inversion region of N=40 and the shell model calculations as well as comparison with HFB-based calculations suggest an extension of this Island of Inversion towards N=50 below ⁷⁸Ni. The analysis of ⁷⁰,⁷²Fe performed by C. Louchart (TU Darmstadt, Germany) reveals the same trend as for Cr isotopes, with a maximum of deformation at N=42. The full data set and our shell-model interpretation suggests a large collectivity for neutron-rich Cr and Fe, possibly up to N=50, questioning the robustness of the N=50 shell closure below ⁷⁸Ni.

<p>A Monte Carlo simulation of the Neutron Wall detector system has been performed using Geant4, in order to define optimum conditions for the detection and identification of multiple neutrons. Emphasis was put on studying the scattering of neutrons between different detectors, which is the main source of the apparent increase of the number of detected neutrons. The simulation has been compared with experimental data. The quality of neutron gated γ-ray spectra was improved for both two- and three-neutron evaporation channels. The influence of small amounts of γ rays mis-interpreted as neutrons was investigated. It was found that such γ rays dramatically reduce the quality of neutron gated γ-ray spectra.</p><p>The interaction properties of fast neutrons in a closed-end coaxial and a planar high-purity germanium detector (HPGe) were studied. Digitised waveforms of HPGe preamplifier signals were recorded for time-of-flight separated neutrons and γ rays, emitted by a ²⁵²Cf source. The experimental waveforms from the detectors were compared to simulated pulse shapes. In the analysis, special emphasis was given to the detection of elastically scattered neutrons, which may be an important effect to take into account in future spectrometers based on γ-ray tracking. No differences between neutron and γ-ray induced pulse shapes were found in this work.</p><p>A Monte Carlo simulation of the interactions of fast neutrons in the future 4π γ-ray spectrometer AGATA was also performed, in order to study the influence of neutrons on γ-ray tracking. It was shown that although there is a large probability of detecting neutrons in AGATA, the neutrons decrease the photo-peak efficiency of AGATA by only about 1% for each neutron emitted in coincidence with γ rays. The peak-to-background ratios in γ-ray spectra are, however, reduced to a much larger extent. The possibility of using AGATA as a neutron detector system was also investigated.</p>