Technical Note: Nanometric organic photovoltaic thin film detectors for dose monitoring in diagnostic x-ray imaging
- Medical Physics Program, Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854 and Department of Medical Imaging, Royal Jubilee Hospital, Vancouver Island Health Authority, Victoria, British Columbia V8R 1J8 (Canada)
- Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854 (United States)
- Harvard Medical School, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02215 (United States)
- Department of Radiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655 (United States)
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, Mannheim 68167 (Germany)
- Medical Physics Program, Department of Physics and Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854 (United States)
Purpose: To fabricate organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells with nanometric active layers sensitive to ionizing radiation and measure their dosimetric characteristics in clinical x-ray beams in the diagnostic tube potential range of 60–150 kVp. Methods: Experiments were designed to optimize the detector’s x-ray response and find the best parameter combination by changing the active layer thickness and the area of the electrode. The OPV cell consisted of poly (3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl): [6,6]-phenyl C{sub 61} butyric acid methyl ester photoactive donor and acceptor semiconducting organic materials sandwiched between an aluminum electrode as an anode and an indium tin oxide electrode as a cathode. The authors measured the radiation-induced electric current at zero bias voltage in all fabricated OPV cells. Results: The net OPV current as a function of beam potential (kVp) was proportional to kVp{sup −0.5} when normalized to x-ray tube output, which varies with kVp. Of the tested configurations, the best combination of parameters was 270 nm active layer thicknesses with 0.7 cm{sup 2} electrode area, which provided the highest signal per electrode area. For this cell, the measured current ranged from approximately 0.7 to 2.4 nA/cm{sup 2} for 60–150 kVp, corresponding to about 0.09 nA–0.06 nA/mGy air kerma, respectively. When compared to commercial amorphous silicon thin film photovoltaic cells irradiated under the same conditions, this represents 2.5 times greater sensitivity. An additional 40% signal enhancement was observed when a 1 mm layer of plastic scintillator was attached to the cells’ beam-facing side. Conclusions: Since both OPVs can be produced as flexible devices and they do not require external bias voltage, they open the possibility for use as thin film in vivo detectors for dose monitoring in diagnostic x-ray imaging.
- OSTI ID:
- 22413618
- Journal Information:
- Medical Physics, Vol. 42, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2015 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-2405
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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