Louisiana State University Physics & Astronomy

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center: Most of the equipment used for patient care during the day (listed above for clinical training), is available for research at nights and on weekends.

CAMD Synchrotron Radiation Facility: The 1.3-1.5 GeV electron storage ring has multiple beam lines of varying light energy. Two beam lines, produced by a superconducting wiggler magnet, allow research using x-ray beams up to 50 keV.

Radiation Detector Development Lab: The Radiation Detector Development (RDD) Laboratory currently provides 480 sq. ft. of research space and is located in the renovated Nicholson Hall (which houses the Department of Physics and Astronomy); the lab occupies an additional 300 sq. ft. of lab space in the Nuclear Science building, which is rated for full use of radioactive materials. The RDD Lab has equipment and materials for design, fabrication, testing, and analysis of prototype detector systems. This includes: oscilloscopes; PC-based multi-channel analyzer; UNIX workstation for simulations, data processing and analysis; electronics prototyping equipment; dose calibrator; sealed long-lived radiation sources and collimation/shielding materials; general-purpose collection of nuclear instrumentation modular electronics; general-purpose collection of scintillation crystals and photomultiplier tubes (PMT); and imaging phantoms. Some project-specific items that are available include a light-tight ("black") box, a selection of wavelength-shifting optical fibers (both individual fibers and assembled ribbons), three 5"x5"x1" NaI(Tl) scintillation crystals, a multi-channel PMT, green-enhanced-response PMTs, custom-built detector assembly fixtures, and multi-channel DAQ cards.

Design and Construction Shops: The Department of Physics and Astronomy provides fully-staffed machine and electronics shops. These shops provide in-house fabrication facilities. In addition, a "student" machine shop is also available for faculty and student use. Other resources include a drafting shop operated by the College of Basic Sciences.

Animal Irradiation Facilities: The School of Veterinary Medicine supports radiological facilities for animals. Diagnostic facilities include x-ray fluoroscopy and CT scanning, and access to a PET/CT. MRI capability is anticipated in the near future. Therapy facilities include a Varian Clinac 600C with a 52-leaf MLC and the Pinnacle treatment planning system.

Computing Facilities:

Linux cluster for student use, operated by the Department of Physics and Astronomy;
SuperMike, a 1024-node Beowulf cluster, operated by the Center for Computing and Technology;
The Medical Physics and Health Physics Program has several high-performance multi-processor Unix workstations for research and instructional purposes with the following software:

Philips ADAC Pinnacle3 clinical treatment planning;
Monte Carlo codes;
Deterministic neutron, photon and charge particle transport codes;
In-house software for advanced aerosol transport computations, external beam photon transport calculations, and brachytherapy seed identification and dosimetry.

Nuclear Science Building: The Nuclear Science Building serves primarily as a laboratory research and teaching facility. In addition, it gives housing to the LSU campus Radiation Safey Office. The building houses:

Six research laboratories equipped with fume hoods, sinks, counters, storage space. All are all acid-proof and are rated for radiochemistry, radiobiology, nano-sized aerosol, and generic radiation research. The aerosol laboratory houses a 1.8x1.5x0.6 m³ environmental chamber equipped with a real-time laser multi-channel aerosol spectrometer and nano-particle nebulizer. This lab supports experimental and computational study of how aerosols transport in confined spaces.
Multiple irradiation facilities (high-intensity radio-isotopic source irradiators having a maximum dose rate of 5000 R/min include): self-contained Co-60 irradiator, pool-type Co-60 irradiator, and Eberline Cs-137 calibrator/irradiator. Neutron facilities include: a subcritical assembly for neutron physics experiments and Cf-252 sources (total isotope mass of about 60 micro-grams) stored in two separate neutron irradiators (scalar thermal neutron flux of about 5E6 n/cm²/s).
Multiple radiation detection systems: HPGe detectors, NaI(Tl) detectors, a Si(Li) detector, liquid scintillation detector, etc. Counting laboratories maintain a cross-calibration schedule with the State of Louisiana Radiation Laboratory under the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, using NIST traceable standards.