Patent ID: 7297914
Filing Date: 2007-11-20
Classification: G01T

Abstract:
1. An x-ray detector, comprising: a) a plurality of optical light guides each having an optical core made of a dielectric material, each of the plurality of optical light guides having a length and opposed first and second ends, said plurality of optical light guides being aligned and bonded together along the length of said optical light guides to form an optical light guide taper with said optical light guides being bonded in such a way that the first ends of said plurality of optical light guides are aligned adjacent to each other to form a top surface, and the second ends of said plurality of optical light guides are aligned adjacent to each other to form a bottom surface, and each optical light guide in said optical light guide taper is aligned with an x-ray source spaced from said top surface in such a way that the optical light guide taper is tapered from said top surface to said bottom surface such that when located with respect to an x-ray source, each optical light guide is aligned with the x-ray source in such a way that x-rays entering a selected optical light guide at its first end can travel directly through said selected optical light guide towards the second end of said selected optical light guide; and b) optical image readout device optically coupled to said bottom surface, wherein x-rays entering said selected optical light guide which interact with the dielectric material by Compton scattering or pair-production processes produces energetic electrons having velocities greater than the speed of light in said dielectric material which produces Cerenkov light photons, and wherein Cerenkov light photons emitted in a forward direction in said selected optical light guide is guided by the selected optical light guide to said optical image readout device, and wherein a spatial variation of light output across the bottom surface produces an optical image which can be read out by the optical image readout device.