The passage of muons through matter is mostly affected by their Coulomb interactions with electrons and nuclei. The muon interactions with electrons lead to continuous energy loss and stopping of muons, while their scattering off nuclei lead to angular "diffusion". By measuring both the number of stopped muons and angular changes in muon trajectories we can estimate density and identify materials. Here we demonstrate the material identification using data taken at Los Alamos with the Mini Muon Tracker.

Muon tomography is a technique that uses cosmic ray muons to generate three dimensional images of volumes using information contained in the Coulomb scattering of the muons. Advantages of this technique are the ability of cosmic rays to penetrate significant overburden and the absence of any additional dose delivered to subjects under study above the natural cosmic ray flux. Disadvantages include the relatively long exposure times and poor position resolution and complex algorithms needed for reconstruction. Here we demonstrate a new method for obtaining improved position resolution and statistical precision for objects with spherical symmetry

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Silicon-based photodetectors offer several benefits relative to photomultiplier tube-based scintillator systems. Solid-state photomultipliers (SSPM) can realize the gain of a photomultiplier tube (PMT) with the quantum efficiency of silicon. The advantages of the solid-state approach must be balanced with adverse trade-offs, for example from increased dark current, to optimize radiation detection sensitivity. We are designing a custom SSPM that will be optimized for green emission of thallium-doped cesium iodide (CsI(Tl)). A typical field gamma radiation detector incorporates thallium doped sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)) and a radiation converter with a PMT. A PMT's sensitivity peaks in the blue wavelengths and is well matched to NaI(Tl). This paper presents results of photomultiplier sensitivity relative to conventional SSPMs and discusses model design improvements. Prototype fabrications are in progress.

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