Radiation Measurements Using Timepix3 with Silicon Sensor and Bare Chip in Proton Beams for FLASH Radiotherapy

TL;DR

This study evaluates Timepix3 detectors with silicon sensors and bare chips in proton beams for FLASH radiotherapy, demonstrating their capabilities and limitations at ultra-high dose rates and different configurations.

Contribution

It introduces novel measurements of Timepix3 detectors' response to high-dose-rate proton beams, including bare ASIC chips and sensor-equipped variants, for FLASH radiotherapy applications.

Findings

Bare ASIC chip sustained up to 270 Gy/s dose rate but with limited spatial resolution.

GaAs sensors saturated at 5 Gy/s, limiting high-dose-rate performance.

Customized Advapix configuration improved imaging up to 28 Gy/s by reducing ToT duration.

Abstract

This study investigates the response of Timepix3 semiconductor pixel detectors in proton beams of varying intensities, with a focus on FLASH proton therapy. Using the Timepix3 ASIC chip, we measured the spatial and spectral characteristics of 220 MeV proton beams delivered in short pulses. The experimental setup involved Minipix readout electronics integrated with a Timepix3 chipboard in a flexible architecture, and an Advapix Timepix3 with a silicon sensor. Measurements were carried out with Timepix3 detectors equipped with GaAs and silicon Si sensors. We also investigated the response of a bare Timepix3 ASIC chip (without a sensor). The detectors were placed within a waterproof holder attached to the IBA Blue water phantom, with additional measurements performed in air behind a 2 cm-thick solid phantom. The results demonstrated the capability of the Timepix3 detectors to measure time-over-threshold (ToT) and count rate (number of events) in both conventional and ultra-high-dose-rates proton beams. The bare ASIC chip configuration sustained up to a dose rate (DR) of 270 Gy/s, although it exhibited limited spatial resolution due to low detection efficiency. In contrast, Minipix Timepix3 with experimental GaAs sensors showed saturation at low DR=5 Gy/s. Furthermore, the Advapix Timepix3 detector was used in standard and customized configurations. In the standard configuration (Ikrum =5), the detector showed saturation at DR=5 Gy/s. But, in the customized configuration when the per-pixel discharging signal (Ikrum) was increased to 80, the detector demonstrated enhanced performance by reducing the duration of the ToT signal, allowing beam spot imaging up to DR=28 Gy/s in the plateau region of the Bragg curve. For such DR, the frame acquisition time was reduced to the order of microseconds, meaning only a fraction of the pulse (with pulse lengths on the order of milliseconds) was captured.