Abstract
Resolution measurements were made using 14.1 MeV neutrons from a high-yield, portable DT neutron generator and a neutron camera based on a scintillation screen viewed by a digital camera. Resolution measurements were made using a custom-built, plastic, USAF-1951 resolution chart, of dimensions 125 × 98 × 25.4 mm3, and by calculating the modulation transfer function from the edge-spread function from edges of plastic and steel objects. A portable neutron generator with a yield of 3 × 109 n/s (DT) and a spot size of 1.5 mm was used to irradiate the object with neutrons for 10 min. The neutron camera, based on a 6LiF/ZnS:Cu-doped polypropylene scintillation screen and digital camera was placed at a distance of 140 cm, and produced an image with a spatial resolution of 0.35 cycles per millimeter.
Highlights
Kallmann and Kuhn [1,2] are credited with taking the first neutron radiographs shortly after the discovery of the neutron by Chadwick in 1932
Higher-quality neutron radiography images were produced by Thewlis [4] using reactors and by Peters [5] using a higher-yield neutron generator than that used by Kallmann, which yielded images of reasonable quality in 1–3 min [3]
Fast neutron radiography (FNR), directly using the 14.1 MeV neutrons arising from the deuterium–tritium (DT) reaction, has been reported using lower-yield portable neutron generators by Andersson [6], and high-yield neutron generators that are not portable, by Wu [7,8]
Summary
Kallmann and Kuhn [1,2] are credited with taking the first neutron radiographs shortly after the discovery of the neutron by Chadwick in 1932 They used a low-yield neutron generator with a yield of 4 × 107 n/s and exposure times of 4 to 5 h [3]. High-yield portable neutron generators offer the promise of being able to take a useful neutron radiography system to the object to be imaged rather than vice versa, potentially enabling use of this technique for non-destructive inspection applications. This early neutron imaging work focused on thermal neutrons, which were either produced by a reactor, or were produced by moderating the neutrons from a neutron generator. Fast neutron radiography (FNR), directly using the 14.1 MeV neutrons arising from the deuterium–tritium (DT) reaction, has been reported using lower-yield portable neutron generators by Andersson [6], and high-yield neutron generators that are not portable, by Wu [7,8]
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