Abstract
Remote detection of radioactive materials is impossible when the measurement location is far from the radioactive source such that the leakage of high-energy photons or electrons from the source cannot be measured. Current technologies are less effective in this respect because they only allow the detection at distances to which the high-energy photons or electrons can reach the detector. Here we demonstrate an experimental method for remote detection of radioactive materials by inducing plasma breakdown with the high-power pulsed electromagnetic waves. Measurements of the plasma formation time and its dispersion lead to enhanced detection sensitivity compared to the theoretically predicted one based only on the plasma on and off phenomena. We show that lower power of the incident electromagnetic wave is sufficient for plasma breakdown in atmospheric-pressure air and the elimination of the statistical distribution is possible in the presence of radioactive material.
Highlights
Remote detection of radioactive materials is impossible when the measurement location is far from the radioactive source such that the leakage of high-energy photons or electrons from the source cannot be measured
In the case of radioactive material being smuggled via marine transportation, it is difficult to detect the presence of radioactive cargo before it has been offloaded at the port, since the current technology is incapable of the remote detection of radioactive material
Plasma breakdown is evident at 760 Torr both in Ar and air with 100% probability of plasma occurrence when the radioactive material was present
Summary
Remote detection of radioactive materials is impossible when the measurement location is far from the radioactive source such that the leakage of high-energy photons or electrons from the source cannot be measured. We demonstrate an experimental method for remote detection of radioactive materials by inducing plasma breakdown with the high-power pulsed electromagnetic waves. A laser-induced plasma was proposed for use in the remote detection of radioactive material based on the reduction of the delay time before plasma formation[1,2] When using this method, multiphoton ionization can occur in the absence of the free electrons that are generated by radioactive materials, which raises significant reliability-related issues. The method of remotely detecting radioactive materials using a high-power millimetre/THz-wave source has not yet been demonstrated or investigated experimentally with a real radioactive source. We describe the experimental demonstration of real-time radioactive material detection using a high-power pulsed millimetre-wave source. We discuss the applicability and limitations of the investigated method
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