The Spid-X gamma camera: A miniature gamma ray integral field spectrometer for nuclear industry applications

In the framework of the ALB3DO joint laboratory, CEA/IRFU and the French company 3D PLUS are developing a gamma camera with coded mask aperture and Compton imaging capabilities: Spid-X. It is the last generation gamma camera in a more than two decades history of gamma camera developments at CEA/IRFU, made commercially available by industrial partners. It is designed to have improved spectrometry and imaging capabilities compared to the previous generations. Spid-X is an integral-field spectrometer which allows for spectro-identification and imaging in the nuclear domain from 2 keV up to 2 MeV. It is based on the Caliste technology, with single planar CdTe semiconductor detector and low noise ASICs, and which is originating from research and development for space astronomy and high-energy solar observation. A dedicated version of Caliste has been successfully launched on the STIX spectrometer onboard the Solar Orbiter satellite. The aim of Spid-X is to perform in real time the four following functions: automatic identification of radioisotopes, proportion measurement in case of multiple detections, imaging, and dosimetry at the camera level. Thanks to all these features available in only one device, Spid-X will be very useful device for applications in the nuclear industry, such as monitoring and waste management. The development plan of Spid-X is based on a series of successive prototypes. In this contribution, along with a complete overview of the system, we present the first light of Spid-X as well as first performance results in spectrometry and imaging.