Imaging based on cosmic-ray produced charged particles

1. A method for sensing a volume exposed to charged particles, comprising:

measuring energy loss of charged particles that enter and penetrate the volume or are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume;

based on the measured energy loss, determining a spatial distribution of the charged particles that enter and penetrate the volume or are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume;

using the spatial distribution of the energy loss of the charged particles to reconstruct the three-dimensional distribution of materials in the inspection volume;

measuring charged particles that enter and penetrate through the volume and those that stop in the volume; and

combining measurements of the energy loss of charged particles with the angular deflection of charged particles to reconstruct the spatial distribution of one or more materials in the volume.

2. A tomography inspection system, comprising:

a first set of position sensitive detectors located on a first side of an object holding area to measure positions and directions of incident charged particles entering the object holding area;

a second set of position sensitive detectors located on a second side of the object holding area opposite to the first side to measure positions and directions of outgoing charged particles exiting the object holding area, or the absence of charged particles that have stopped in the volume; and

a signal processing unit to receive data of measured signals of the incoming charged particles from the first set of position sensitive detectors and measured signals of the outgoing charged particles from the second set of position sensitive detectors, the signal processing unit configured to analyze behaviors of the charged particles caused by interactions with materials within the object holding area based on the measured incoming and outgoing positions and directions of charged particles to obtain a tomographic profile or the spatial distribution of materials within the object holding area,

wherein the signal processing unit is operable to measure energy loss of charged particles that enter the volume and penetrate through the volume, and charged particles that are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, determine a spatial distribution of the charged particles that enter the volume and penetrate through the volume and charged particles that are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume; and

based on the measured energy loss, using the spatial distribution to reconstruct the spatial distribution of materials within the inspection volume.

3. A method for sensing a volume exposed to charged particles, comprising:

using a first set of position sensitive detectors located on a first side of the volume to measure positions and directions of incident charged particles that penetrate the first set of position sensitive detectors to enter the volume;

using a second set of position sensitive detectors located on a second side of the volume opposite to the first side to measure positions and directions of outgoing charged particles exiting the volume or the lack thereof;

using measurements made by the second set of position sensitive detectors to determine incident charged particles that enter the volume and penetrate through the volume and charged particles that do not penetrate through the volume to reach the second set of position sensitive detectors;

determining energy loss of charged particles that enter the volume and penetrate through the volume and charged particles that are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume;

determining a spatial distribution of the charged particles that enter the volume and are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, based on the measured energy loss; and

using the spatial distribution of charged particles that enter the volume and are stopped inside to reconstruct the spatial distribution of materials in the inspection volume.

4. A method for sensing a volume exposed to charged particles, comprising:

measuring energy loss of charged particles that enter the volume and are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume;

based on the measured energy loss, determining a spatial distribution of the charged particles that enter the volume and are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume; and

using the spatial distribution to detect presence of one or more low density materials with low atomic numbers.

5. The method as in claim 4 , comprising:

measuring charged particles that enter and penetrate through the volume to determine presence of one or more high density materials with atomic numbers higher than the low atomic numbers of one or more low density materials; and

combining measurements of both the one or more high density materials and the one or more low density materials to inspect content inside the volume.

6. A tomography inspection system, comprising:

a first set of position sensitive detectors located on a first side of an object holding area to measure positions and directions of incident charged particles towards the object holding area;

a second set of position sensitive detectors located on a second side of the object holding area opposite to the first side to measure positions and directions of outgoing charged particles exiting the object holding area; and

a signal processing unit to receive data of measured signals of the incoming charged particles from the first set of position sensitive detectors and measured signals of the outgoing charged particles from the second set of position sensitive detectors, the signal processing unit configured to analyze scattering behaviors of the charged particles caused by scattering of the charged in the materials within the object holding area based on the measured incoming and outgoing positions and directions of charged particles to obtain a tomographic profile or the spatial distribution of scattering centers within the object holding area,

wherein the signal processing unit is operable to measure energy loss of charged particles that enter the volume and are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, determine a spatial distribution of the charged particles that enter the volume and are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, based on the measured energy loss, and use the spatial distribution to detect presence of one or more low density materials with low atomic numbers.

7. A method for sensing a volume exposed to charged particles, comprising:

using a first set of position sensitive detectors located on a first side of the volume to measure positions and directions of incident charged particles that penetrate the first set of position sensitive detectors to enter the volume;

using a second set of position sensitive detectors located on a second side of the volume opposite to the first side to measure positions and directions of outgoing charged particles exiting the volume;

using measurements made by the second set of position sensitive detectors to determine incident charted particles that enter the volume and do not penetrate through the volume to reach the second set of position sensitive detectors;

determining energy loss of charged particles that enter the volume and are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume;

determining a spatial distribution of the charged particles that enter the volume and are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, based on the measured energy loss; and

using the spatial distribution to detect presence of one or more low density materials with low atomic numbers inside the volume.

8. The method as in claim 7 , comprising:

measuring charged particles that enter and penetrate through the volume to determine presence of one or more high density materials with atomic numbers higher than the low atomic numbers of one or more low density materials; and

combining measurements of both the one or more high density materials and the one or more low density materials to inspect content inside the volume.

9. The method as in claim 1 , further comprising:

using comic ray produced muons that naturally exist on the earth surface as a source of the charged particles without using an artificial radiation source to generate the charged particles in sensing the volume.

10. The method as in claim 9 , further comprising:

using measurements of energy loss of only the charged particles that enter and penetrate the volume, without using measurements of the energy loss of the charged particles that are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, to reconstruct the spatial distribution of one or more materials in the volume.

11. The method as in claim 9 , further comprising:

using measurements of energy loss of only the charged particles that are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, without using measurements of the energy loss of the charged particles that enter and penetrate the volume, to reconstruct the spatial distribution of one or more materials in the volume.

12. The method as in claim 11 , further comprising:

using measurements of energy loss of electrons that are produced by the comic ray produced muons inside the volume and that are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, to reconstruct the spatial distribution of one or more materials in the volume.

13. The method as in claim 11 , further comprising:

using measurements of energy loss of positrons that are produced by the comic ray produced muons inside the volume and that are stopped inside the volume without penetrating through the volume, to reconstruct the spatial distribution of one or more materials in the volume.

14. The system as in claim 2 , wherein:

the system uses comic ray produced muons that naturally exist on the earth surface as a source of the incident charged particles to the object holding area without using an artificial radiation source.

15. The method as in claim 3 , further comprising:

using comic ray produced muons that naturally exist on the earth surface as a source of the charged particles without using an artificial radiation source to generate the charged particles in sensing the volume.

16. The method as in claim 4 , further comprising:

using comic ray produced muons that naturally exist on the earth surface as a source of the charged particles without using an artificial radiation source to generate the charged particles in sensing the volume.

17. The system as in claim 6 , wherein:

the system uses comic ray produced muons that naturally exist on the earth surface as a source of the incident charged particles to the object holding area without using an artificial radiation source.