Thesis

PicoMonitoring: sub-ns FLASH beam monitoring with Si devices

• Call:

  ProtoTera Call 2023/2

• Academic Year:

  2023

• Supervisor:

  Pedro Assis

• Co-Supervisor:

  Joao Seco

• Host Institution:

  LIP - Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas

• Granting Degree Institution:

  Instituto Superior Técnico (Universidade de Lisboa)

• Typology:

  Mixed

• Abroad Institution:

  Instituto Superior Técnico (Universidade de Lisboa)

• Abroad Supervisor:

  Ricardo Goncalo

• Abstract:

  Flash Radiation therapy with charged particles is a promising technique to improve treatment efficacy. This technique relies on using high dose rates to treat tumors, after the observation that the survival of healthy tissue was enhanced when compared to treatments deploying the same dose at a lower dose rate. The practical use of the technique requires a high level of control and monitoring of the beam used to deliver the dose. One of the critical parameters to be monitored is the fluence of particles. The high dose rate used in this therapy creates a challenge to deliver the correct dose to the tumor. Particle physics experiments such as ATLAS and CMS are upgrading their detectors to deal with the increasing luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). They will have to deal with large fluxes and will be exposed to large doses of radiation. The devices are being developed to have timing resolution better than a hundred picoseconds and radiation tolerance up to 200 MRad. The focus of the PhD will the development of a prototype beam monitor with the sensors mentioned above, as a proof-of-principle that will allow for time-resolved dosimetry of the treatment beam. It will also provide real-time feedback to the control of the machine.