High-Resolution Muography Using a Prototype Portable Muon Telescope

Abstract

We report on our continued development of a portable muon telescope with excellent angular resolution capable of imaging large archaeological structures in detail. The first prototype (Phase I) consists of four trays of scintillator bars, Winston cones, silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), readout electronics, and a network of Arduinos to handle data acquisition. Finally, we developed a reconstruction algorithm to create the final image. The cosmic muons produce scintillation photons as they pass through the scintillator bars; these photons are transported by the Winston cones to the SiPMs where they are converted into electrical signals. The electrical signals are then digitized and transmitted to an offline computer for reconstruction. The entire system is mounted on a wheeled cart and can be pointed to target different objects of interest. With Phase I, we are able to reconstruct large objects in two-dimensional space with an angular resolution of 20 mrad with an operating efficiency of 89%.