Detecting radiation is key to technologies ranging from particle accelerators and scientific instruments to medical imaging and security screening. But current detectors must often make trade-offs, providing signals that are strong but slow or fast but weak. The trade-off between signal strength and speed can limit precision detection.

In new research, Stanford University researchers worked with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory on a unique experimental setup to detect radiation across a range of materials.

What they found surprised them. Not only did the researchers observe an unexpectedly strong ultrafast radiation signal, they also found that the charge within the materials acted differently than expected.