A Fast Neutron Radiography System Using a High Yield Portable DT Neutron Source

J Imaging. 2020 Nov 26;6(12):128. doi: 10.3390/jimaging6120128.

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.

Keywords: 14.1 MeV; DT; FNR; MTF; USAF-1951; deuterium-tritium; fast neutron radiography; imaging; modulation transfer function.