瑞士苏黎世联邦理工学院(ETH Zurich)和洛桑联邦理工学院(EPFL)的研究团队成功开发出PLATON粒子探测器，能够在无分割的闪烁体材料块内追踪隐形粒子的三维路径[1]。这一创新系统采用光场相机、单光子雪崩二极管传感器和人工智能技术相结合[1]，突破了传统粒子探测需要数百万个微小探测器分量的限制，改用单个材料块即可实现探测功能[1]。
研究团队对原型系统进行了严格测试，在检测光子数从几百个到仅五个的各种条件下验证了其性能[1]。模拟结果表明，10×10×10厘米³的无分割PLATON探测器可实现低于1毫米的空间分辨率[1]，而一立方米大小的探测器则可达到几毫米的空间分辨率，与目前最先进的塑料闪烁体探测器性能相当[1]。这项研究已发表在《自然通讯》期刊上[1]，并已提交三项专利申请，其中涵盖该技术在正电子发射断层扫描(PET)医学成像中的应用[1]。该研究获得瑞士国家科学基金会资助[1]。
Researchers from ETH Zurich and EPFL have created PLATON, a novel particle detector that captures the three-dimensional trajectories of invisible particles within undivided blocks of scintillator material.[1] The system combines light-field imaging, single-photon avalanche diode sensors, and artificial intelligence to achieve high-resolution particle tracking without requiring the millions of miniature detector components used in conventional systems.[1]
The prototype has been tested under conditions ranging from detection of several hundred photons down to as few as five photons.[1] According to simulations, a 10×10×10 cubic centimeter undivided PLATON detector can achieve spatial resolution below 1 millimeter, while a cubic meter-sized detector would reach spatial resolution of several millimeters—performance comparable to state-of-the-art plastic scintillator detectors.[1] The findings were published in Nature Communications in 2026.[1]
The research team has filed three patent applications related to potential applications of the technology in positron emission tomography (PET) medical imaging.[1] The work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.[1]