Impact of beam stabilization and calibration limitations on MiniPIX-Timepix performance

Ascertain whether limitations in accelerator beam stabilization and calibration during data acquisition with the MiniPIX‑Timepix detector on the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre 60 MeV ocular proton therapy beamline significantly affect device performance, including accuracy of cluster size distributions, track overlap, and event identification.

Background

Accurate LET determination with the MiniPIX‑Timepix detector relies on clean separation of single-particle tracks and stable beam conditions. During experiments, overlapping events and potential calibration constraints were observed, which may distort cluster size distributions and deposited energy spectra, complicating LET estimation.

The authors note an unresolved uncertainty regarding whether limitations in beam stabilization and calibration significantly affected detector performance, motivating a focused assessment of these operational factors on measured outcomes.