Impact of measuring electron tracks in high-resolution scientific charge-coupled devices within Compton imaging systems

We have implemented benchmarked models to determine the gain in sensitivity of electron-tracking based Compton imaging relative to conventional Compton imaging by the use of high-resolution scientific charge-coupled devices (CCD). These models are based on the recently demonstrated ability of electron-tracking based Compton imaging by using fully depleted scientific CCDs. Here we evaluate the gain in sensitivity by employing Monte Carlo simulations in combination with advanced charge transport models to calculate two-dimensional charge distributions corresponding to experimentally obtained tracks. In order to reconstruct the angle of the incident γ - ray , a trajectory determination algorithm was used on each track and integrated into a back-projection routine utilizing a geodesic-vertex ray tracing technique. Analysis was performed for incident γ - ray energies of 662 keV and results show an increase in sensitivity consistent with tracking of the Compton electron to approximately ±30°.