Patent ID: 7491948
Filing Date: 2009-02-17
Classification: G01T

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: communicating with one or more personal radiation detection devices, each personal radiation detection device of said one or more personal radiation detection devices comprising: a host device including, a host memory, an event memory, a microprocessor, a global positioning unit and a transceiver or a transmitter; a radiation shield around said host memory and said event memory; a radiation detection memory, said radiation detection memory responsive to alpha radiation, said radiation detection memory comprised of two or more SRAM arrays, each SRAM of said two or more SRAM arrays array comprising cross-coupled invertors coupled to bitlines through pass-gate field effect transistors, gates of said pass-gate field effect transistors coupled to wordlines through capacitors, capacitors of different SRAM arrays of said two or more SRAM arrays having capacitors of different capacitance; a conversion layer device proximate to said radiation detection layer memory, said conversion layer device comprising a material able to convert neutron, gamma or neutron and gamma radiation into alpha radiation; and an event detection circuit within said host device, said event detection circuit configured to detect and to store data relative to detection of said alpha radiation events by said radiation detection memory in said event memory, said data including a soft error fail rate of each SRAM array of said radiation detection memory and a location of said personal radiation detection device when said alpha radiation was detected; storing said data in said event memory; retrieving, in a reading device, said data stored in said event memory; determining, in said reading device, a radiation dose said host device has been exposed to based on data stored in said event memory; and displaying (i) on a display unit of said reading device, said radiation dose and a location of said personal radiation detection device when said alpha radiation event was detected, (ii) on a computer screen of a computer linked to said reading device or (iii) on said display unit of said reading device and on said computer screen of said computer.