Patents by Inventor L. Jonathan Dowell

L. Jonathan Dowell has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9759823
    Abstract: Directional radiation detectors and systems, methods, and computer-readable media for using directional radiation detectors to locate a radiation source are provided herein. A directional radiation detector includes a radiation sensor. A radiation attenuator partially surrounds the radiation sensor and defines an aperture through which incident radiation is received by the radiation sensor. The aperture is positioned such that when incident radiation is received directly through the aperture and by the radiation sensor, a source of the incident radiation is located within a solid angle defined by the aperture. The radiation sensor senses at least one of alpha particles, beta particles, gamma particles, or neutrons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: Los Alamos National Security, LLC
    Inventor: L. Jonathan Dowell
  • Patent number: 9702984
    Abstract: Scintillator-based radiation detectors capable of transmitting light indicating the presence of radiation for long distances are disclosed herein. A radiation detector can include a scintillator layer and a light-guide layer. The scintillator layer is configured to produce light upon receiving incident radiation. The light-guide layer is configured to receive light produced by the scintillator layer and either propagate the received light through the radiation detector or absorb the received light and emit light, through fluorescence, that is propagated through the radiation detector. A radiation detector can also include an outer layer partially surrounding the scintillator layer and light-guide layer. The index of refraction of the light-guide layer can be greater than the index of refraction of adjacent layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2017
    Assignee: Los Alamos National Security, LLC
    Inventors: L. Jonathan Dowell, Dale V. Talbott, Markus P. Hehlen