--- title: Berkeley Lab-Led Project Secures Funding to Develop a... description: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Ideon Technologies received ARPA-E funding through the ROCKS initiative for a three-year project to build a... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/berkeley-lab-led-project-secures-funding-to-develop-a-transportable-muon-imager-3ezzkfuuw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Berkeley Lab-Led Project Secures Funding to Develop a Transportable Muon Imager | daily.dev og:description: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Ideon Technologies received ARPA-E funding through the ROCKS initiative for a three-year project to build a... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/berkeley-lab-led-project-secures-funding-to-develop-a-transportable-muon-imager-3ezzkfuuw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/3ezzKfUUW.png og:image:alt: Berkeley Lab-Led Project Secures Funding to Develop a Transportable Muon Imager og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Berkeley Lab-Led Project Secures Funding to Develop a Transportable Muon Imager **[The Quantum Insider](https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Ideon Technologies received ARPA-E funding through the ROCKS initiative for a three-year project to build a transportable active muon imaging system aimed at accelerating discovery of critical mineral deposits. Using compact laser-plasma accelerators, the team plans to generate directed muon beams thousands of times more intense than natural cosmic-ray muons, cutting subsurface imaging times from months to hours. The project targets a two-stage 12-GeV electron accelerator as a proof of concept toward 30-100 GeV systems able to image 50-150 meters of rock. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the difference between passive and active muon imaging for mineral exploration? Passive muon imaging relies on naturally occurring cosmic-ray muons, which arrive at roughly one muon per square centimeter per minute and can take days to months of exposure to form an image, plus it only works when detectors sit below the target. Active muon imaging uses compact laser-plasma accelerators to generate directed muon beams thousands of times more intense than natural flux, compressing imaging times from months to hours and allowing beams to be aimed from any direction. _Teams evaluating faster subsurface sensing methods can follow developments like this muon imaging approach on daily.dev._ ### How deep can high-energy muon beams penetrate rock for mineral exploration? Muons around 10 GeV can penetrate rock, soil, and ore layers up to 20 meters thick, while muons in the 30 GeV to 100 GeV range can penetrate from 50 meters to over 150 meters. Berkeley Lab's ROCKS project aims to demonstrate a two-stage 12-GeV electron accelerator as a step toward the higher-energy systems needed for deeper imaging. _Engineers tracking advances in deep subsurface sensing can find updates on projects like this via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Ideon Technologies Joins Consortium for Laser-Driven Muon Imaging](https://daily.dev/posts/ideon-technologies-joins-consortium-for-laser-driven-muon-imaging-izdju8dmf) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A materials scientist’s playground](https://daily.dev/posts/a-materials-scientist-s-playground-e1zzntye4) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Gravitational Wave Detectors Turn to Quantum Mechanics](https://daily.dev/posts/gravitational-wave-detectors-turn-to-quantum-mechanics-z3qx4qafc) · IEEE Spectrum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Slowing down muon decay with short laser pulses](https://daily.dev/posts/slowing-down-muon-decay-with-short-laser-pulses-d2dvwcg7i) · Phys.org · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI Copilot Keeps Berkeley’s X-Ray Particle Accelerator on Track](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-copilot-keeps-berkeley-s-x-ray-particle-accelerator-on-track-zzmuf9pnc) · NVIDIA · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/berkeley-lab-led-project-secures-funding-to-develop-a-transportable-muon-imager-3ezzkfuuw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Berkeley Lab-Led Project Secures Funding to Develop a Transportable Muon Imager","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/berkeley-lab-led-project-secures-funding-to-develop-a-transportable-muon-imager-3ezzkfuuw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/berkeley-lab-led-project-secures-funding-to-develop-a-transportable-muon-imager-3ezzkfuuw"},"datePublished":"2026-08-21T12:19:49.368Z","dateModified":"2026-08-21T12:20:09.448Z","description":"Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Ideon Technologies received ARPA-E funding through the ROCKS initiative for a three-year project to build a...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/003702d8f42f2cde960661632b9909c1?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/003702d8f42f2cde960661632b9909c1?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Quantum Insider","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Quantum Insider","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/7b14a6b34c1b464c9e8a88d9a0dac951","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/berkeley-lab-led-project-secures-funding-to-develop-a-transportable-muon-imager-3ezzkfuuw","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT6M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Quantum Insider","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Berkeley Lab-Led Project Secures Funding to Develop a Transportable Muon Imager"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/berkeley-lab-led-project-secures-funding-to-develop-a-transportable-muon-imager-3ezzkfuuw#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the difference between passive and active muon imaging for mineral exploration?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Passive muon imaging relies on naturally occurring cosmic-ray muons, which arrive at roughly one muon per square centimeter per minute and can take days to months of exposure to form an image, plus it only works when detectors sit below the target. Active muon imaging uses compact laser-plasma accelerators to generate directed muon beams thousands of times more intense than natural flux, compressing imaging times from months to hours and allowing beams to be aimed from any direction. Teams evaluating faster subsurface sensing methods can follow developments like this muon imaging approach on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How deep can high-energy muon beams penetrate rock for mineral exploration?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Muons around 10 GeV can penetrate rock, soil, and ore layers up to 20 meters thick, while muons in the 30 GeV to 100 GeV range can penetrate from 50 meters to over 150 meters. Berkeley Lab's ROCKS project aims to demonstrate a two-stage 12-GeV electron accelerator as a step toward the higher-energy systems needed for deeper imaging. Engineers tracking advances in deep subsurface sensing can find updates on projects like this via daily.dev."}}]} ```