Position-resolved Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy

A new method which allows for position-resolved positron lifetime spectroscopy studies in extended volume samples is presented. In addition to the existing technique of in-situ production of positrons inside large (cm³) bulk samples using high-energy photons up to 16 MeV from bremsstrahlung production, granular position-sensitive photon detectors have been employed. A beam of intense bremsstrahlung is provided by the superconducting electron linear accelerator ELBE (Electron Linear Accelerator with high Brilliance and low Emittance) which delivers electron bunches of less than 10 ps temporal width and an adjustable bunch separation of multiples of 38 ns, average beam currents of 1 mA, and energies up to 40 MeV. Since the generation of bremsstrahlung and the transport to the sample preserves the sharp timing of the electron beam, positrons generated inside the entire sample volume by pair production feature a sharp start time stamp for positron annihilation lifetime studies with high timing resolutions and high signal to background ratios due to the coincident detection of two annihilation photons. Two commercially available detectors from a high-resolution medial positron-emission tomography system are being employed with 169 individual Lu₂SiO₅:Ce scintillation crystals, each. In first experiments, a positron-lifetime gated image of a planar Si/SiO₂ (pieces of 12.5 mm × 25 mm size) sample and a 3-D structured metal in Teflon target could be obtained proving the feasibility of a three dimensional lifetime-gated tomographic system.