Current Trends in Ionizing Radiation Detection

The discovery of radioactivity was also the birth of the field of radiation measurements. Over the ensuing century, the ability to sense radiation evolved from qualitative observations to precise measurements of its energy, intensity, and location, even as a function of time. The applications that influence the detector R&D have continued to demand more from the detector and analysis systems, and in this overview paper, we highlight the current directions in the continuing development of radiation measuring instruments. We begin by looking at the applications that are driving detector research today, and then focus on contemporary advances in the four primary detector categories: gas-filled detectors, scintillators and light conversion devices, semiconductors, and other miscellaneous detectors. Because of the remarkable breadth of this technology it is impossible to do service or even recognize all areas of development. For example, we cannot give sufficient attention to the remarkable advances in electronic readouts nor some of the hybrid devices that span multiple categories. Nevertheless, this gives us a place to start and we beg the reader’s indulgence it we omit a detection technology of particular interest to their field.