Imaging via Cosmic Muon Induced Secondaries

Abstract

As cosmic muons traverse a target they interact with it, which induces a secondary radiation, whose spectrum depends on the material-composition of the target. This imaging technique is sensitive to low-Z materials as well, opening a novel non-invasive material-identification method for medium-sized obscure targets. Our Hungarian-Serbian collaboration pioneered in demonstrating experimentally this unique method, using gaseous trackers for the muons, and scintillator array and germanium for the secondaries. Results have proven imaging possibilities ranging from metals to soft-tissue targets. Corresponding Geant4 simulations have revealed forward-sideward asymmetry and sensitivity to the electron/gamma ratio. The formers got materialized in a new experimental setup, with large-coverage via segmented scintillator arrays, and a combined and compact DAQ, with electron-tagging possibility.
The paper describes the recent results in imaging via secondaries, details the new enhanced experimental setup, and its first results.