Inventors:
Nicholas Mascarenhas - Livermore CA, US
Peter Marleau - Dublin CA, US
Mark Gerling - Livermore CA, US
Robert Lee Cooper - Livermore CA, US
Stanley Mrowka - Pleasant Hill CA, US
James S. Brennan - Rodeo CA, US
Assignee:
Sandia Corporation - Albuquerque NM
International Classification:
G01T 3/00
Abstract:
An instrument that will directly image the fast fission neutrons from a special nuclear material source wherein the neutron detection efficiency is increased has been described. Instead of the previous technique that uses a time-of-flight (TOF) between 2 widely spaced fixed planes of neutron detectors to measure scatter neutron kinetic energy, we now use the recoil proton energy deposited in the second of the 2 scatter planes which can now be repositioned either much closer together or further apart. However, by doubling the separation distance between the 2 planes from 20 cm to a distance of 40 cm we improved the angular resolution of the detector from about 12 to about 10. A further doubling of the separation distance to 80 cm provided an addition improvement in angular resolution of the detector to about 6 without adding additional detectors or ancillary electronics. The distance between planes also may be dynamically changed using a suitable common technique such as a gear- or motor-drive to toggle between the various positions. The angular resolution of this new configuration, therefore, is increased at the expanse of detection sensitivity.