Compton Radiography Research Articles

Picosecond laser-driven coded-source radiography with high resolution and contrast

The X-ray sources for Compton radiography of ICF experiments are generated by using intense picosecond lasers to irradiate wire targets. The wire diameter must be designed thin enough, for example ∼ 10 µm in many published works, to comply a high spatial resolution. This results in a low laser-target interception, which limits the photon yield. We investigated a technique of coded-source radiography based on laser-driven annular sources via Monte Carlo and PIC simulations. The annular X-ray source is formed by laser irradiating tube target in which the effect of electron recirculation plays an important role. We proved that this technique has an increased spatial resolution and contrast than that using the Gaussian source produced by wire targets. Therefore, the diameter of the backlighter target can be significantly increased to uplift laser-target interception without compromising on spatial resolution. This contributes towards a reconciliation between the spatial resolution and photon yield for Compton radiography. The results predict the possibility of improving source photon yield by several times in future experiments.

Simulation Model for Studying Object Structure Using Method of Layer-by-Layer Digital Compton Radiography

Simulation Model for Studying Object Structure Using Method of Layer-by-Layer Digital Compton Radiography

Имитационная модель исследования структуры объекта методом послойной цифровой комптоновской радиографии

A simulation model of the object structure by the layered digital Compton radiography (tomography) is proposed. The developed model takes into account the geometry of experiment, the parameters of the source and the gamma radiation detectors equipped with a special system of collimators. The simulation model is implemented as a program in the MathCAD software. The capabilities of the simulation model and the corresponding code are demonstrated for an aluminum barrier with spherical local inclusions.

Influence of a low-Z thin substrate on a microwire hard x-ray source driven by a picosecond laser pulse for point-projection x-ray radiography

In the point-projection hard x-ray radiography of dense matter, for example, an inertial confinement fusion implosion capsule at stagnation time, a picosecond laser driven gold microwire is used to produce a short pulse point, bremsstrahlung hard x-ray source. The microwire was held by a low-Z CH thin substrate commonly used to promote experimental performance. We explored the influence of the low-Z thin substrate on the microwire bremsstrahlung hard x-ray source via particle-in-cell and Monte Carlo simulations. It was shown that both of the microwires, with or without the low-Z thin substrate, could emit more intense hard x-ray radiation than the radiator buried in the equal-density substrate, which benefited from efficient electron recirculation. The freestanding microwire exhibited further enhanced electron recirculation compared to that with the low-Z thin substrate, while the increased hot electrons were only present for the energetic electrons of >1 MeV. Thus, the freestanding microwire could produce significantly more intense MeV gamma x-ray emission with respect to that with the substrate, but an ignorable increment was exhibited at the softer x-ray emission of 10–200 keV. These results provided valuable insights into the design of backlighter targets in point-projection x-ray radiography, such as a freestanding microwire being preferred in MeV gamma-ray radiography, while the microwire with the CH thin substrate could be used in the 10–200 keV hard x-ray Compton radiography of an implosion capsule.

Simulation of hard x-rays source produced by a picosecond laser irradiated solid target for Compton radiography

A bremsstrahlung radiation hard x-ray source, produced by a picosecond intense laser irradiated solid target, was used to diagnose an implosion capsule at stagnation phase via Compton radiography in experiments. By performing Monte Carlo and particle-in-cell simulation, we investigated the influence of target materials and laser intensity on the >70 keV bremsstrahlung hard x-ray emission. We found that the brightness of the hard x-rays is proportional to the atomic number multiplied by area density (ZρL), which indicates that the higher Z and higher density gold or uranium material will produce the brightest hard x-rays source at the same thickness. In relativistic laser solid interactions, hot electron recirculation plays an important role in hard x-ray emission. Without recirculation, hard x-ray conversion efficiency decays when increasing the laser intensity. While the hard x-ray emission comes to the maximal saturated conversion efficiency at relativistic laser intensity if considering the electron recirculation. These results provide valuable insights into the experimental design of Compton radiography.

Simulation and analysis of time-gated monochromatic radiographs of cryogenic implosions on OMEGA

Spherical polymer shells containing cryogenic DT ice layers have been imploded on the OMEGA Laser System and radiographed using Si backlighter targets (hν = 1.865keV) driven with 20-ps IR pulses from the OMEGA EP Laser System. We report on a series of implosions in which the deuterium–tritium (DT) shell is imaged for a range of convergence ratios and in-flight aspect ratios. The shadows of the converging DT ice and polymer shells are recorded while the self-emission is minimized using a time-resolved (40-ps) monochromatic crystal imaging system. The images acquired have been analyzed for the level of ablator mixing into the DT fuel (even 0.1% of carbon mix can be reliably inferred). Simulations are compared with measured x-ray radiographs to provide insight into the early time and stagnation stages of an implosion, to guide the modeling efforts to improve the target designs, and to guide the development of this and other imagining techniques, such as Compton radiography.

Spatial resolution measurements of the advanced radiographic capability x-ray imaging system at energies relevant to Compton radiography

Compton radiography provides a means to measure the integrity, ρR and symmetry of the DT fuel in an inertial confinement fusion implosion near peak compression. Upcoming experiments at the National Ignition Facility will use the ARC (Advanced Radiography Capability) laser to drive backlighter sources for Compton radiography experiments and will use the newly commissioned AXIS (ARC X-ray Imaging System) instrument as the detector. AXIS uses a dual-MCP (micro-channel plate) to provide gating and high DQE at the 40-200 keV x-ray range required for Compton radiography, but introduces many effects that contribute to the spatial resolution. Experiments were performed at energies relevant to Compton radiography to begin characterization of the spatial resolution of the AXIS diagnostic.

Hard x-ray transmission curved crystal spectrometers (10–100 keV) for laser fusion experiments at the ShenGuang-III laser facility

Two transmission curved crystal spectrometers are designed to measure the hard x-ray emission in the laser fusion experiment of Compton radiography of implosion target on ShenGuang-III laser facility in China. Cylindrically curved${\it\alpha}$-quartz (10–11) crystals with curvature radii of 150 and 300 mm are used to cover spectral ranges of 10–56 and 17–100 keV, respectively. The distance between the crystal and the x-ray source can be changed over a broad distance from 200 to 1500 mm. The optical design, including the integral reflectivity of the curved crystal, the sensitivity, and the spectral resolution of the spectrometers, is discussed. We also provide mechanic design details and experimental results using a Mo anode x-ray source. High-quality spectra were obtained. We confirmed that the spectral resolution can be improved by increasing the working distance, which is the distance between the recording medium and the Rowland circle.

AXIS: an instrument for imaging Compton radiographs using the Advanced Radiography Capability on the NIF.

Compton radiography is an important diagnostic for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF), as it provides a means to measure the density and asymmetries of the DT fuel in an ICF capsule near the time of peak compression. The AXIS instrument (ARC (Advanced Radiography Capability) X-ray Imaging System) is a gated detector in development for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), and will initially be capable of recording two Compton radiographs during a single NIF shot. The principal reason for the development of AXIS is the requirement for significantly improved detection quantum efficiency (DQE) at high x-ray energies. AXIS will be the detector for Compton radiography driven by the ARC laser, which will be used to produce Bremsstrahlung X-ray backlighter sources over the range of 50 keV-200 keV for this purpose. It is expected that AXIS will be capable of recording these high-energy x-rays with a DQE several times greater than other X-ray cameras at NIF, as well as providing a much larger field of view of the imploded capsule. AXIS will therefore provide an image with larger signal-to-noise that will allow the density and distribution of the compressed DT fuel to be measured with significantly greater accuracy as ICF experiments are tuned for ignition.

Dynamic symmetry of indirectly driven inertial confinement fusion capsules on the National Ignition Facility

In order to achieve ignition using inertial confinement fusion it is important to control the growth of low-mode asymmetries as the capsule is compressed. Understanding the time-dependent evolution of the shape of the hot spot and surrounding fuel layer is crucial to optimizing implosion performance. A design and experimental campaign to examine sources of asymmetry and to quantify symmetry throughout the implosion has been developed and executed on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [E. I. Moses et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009)]. We have constructed a large simulation database of asymmetries applied during different time intervals. Analysis of the database has shown the need to measure and control the hot-spot shape, areal density distribution, and symmetry swings during the implosion. The shape of the hot spot during final stagnation is measured using time-resolved imaging of the self-emission, and information on the shape of the fuel at stagnation can be obtained from Compton radiography [R. Tommasini et al., Phys. Plasmas 18, 056309 (2011)]. For the first time on NIF, two-dimensional inflight radiographs of gas-filled and cryogenic fuel layered capsules have been measured to infer the symmetry of the radiation drive on the capsule. These results have been used to modify the hohlraum geometry and the wavelength tuning to improve the inflight implosion symmetry. We have also expanded our shock timing capabilities by the addition of extra mirrors inside the re-entrant cone to allow the simultaneous measurement of shock symmetry in three locations on a single shot, providing asymmetry information up to Legendre mode 4. By diagnosing the shape at nearly every step of the implosion, we estimate that shape has typically reduced fusion yield by about 50% in ignition experiments.

Development of Compton radiography of inertial confinement fusion implosions

An important diagnostic tool for inertial confinement fusion will be time-resolved radiographic imaging of the dense cold fuel surrounding the hot spot. The measurement technique is based on point-projection radiography at photon energies from 60 to 200 keV where the Compton effect is the dominant contributor to the opacity of the fuel or pusher. We have successfully applied this novel Compton radiography technique to the study of the final compression of directly driven plastic capsules at the OMEGA facility [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]. The radiographs have a spatial and temporal resolution of ∼10 μm and ∼10 ps, respectively. A statistical accuracy of ∼0.5% in transmission per resolution element is achieved, allowing localized measurements of areal mass densities to 7% accuracy. The experimental results show 3D nonuniformities and lower than 1D expected areal densities attributed to drive asymmetries and hydroinstabilities.

Development of backlighting sources for a Compton radiography diagnostic of inertial confinement fusion targets (invited)

We present scaled demonstrations of backlighter sources, emitting bremsstrahlung x rays with photon energies above 75 keV, that we will use to record x-ray Compton radiographic snapshots of cold dense DT fuel in inertial confinement fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In experiments performed at the Titan laser facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we measured the source size and the bremsstrahlung spectrum as a function of laser intensity and pulse length from solid targets irradiated at 2x10(17)-5x10(18) W/cm(2) using 2-40 ps pulses. Using Au planar foils we achieved source sizes down to 5.5 microm and conversion efficiencies of about 1x10(-13) J/J into x-ray photons with energies in the 75-100 keV spectral range. We can now use these results to design NIF backlighter targets and shielding and to predict Compton radiography performance as a function of the NIF implosion yield and associated background.

Compton Soft-Tissue Imaging and Its Capability Expanded by Direct Magnification and Shinozaki Color TV System

To improve the spatial and density resolution of Compton radiography, the authors utilized direct magnification with a pin-hole collimator and contrast magnification with the Shinozaki color TV system, a digital color display. Great improvement was attained in spatial resolution. Contrast magnification resulted in sharp delineation of soft-tissue lesions including cancer and its infiltrations into normal surrounding breast tissue. It is expected that in the future, Compton radiography will have wide raiological application with reduced radiation dosage.