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At least 73 records · Page 4

Improved neutron-gamma discrimination for a 3 He neutron detector using subspace learning methods

3 He gas based neutron linear-position-sensitive detectors (LPSDs) have been applied for many neutron scattering instruments. Traditional Pulse-Height Analysis (PHA) for Neutron-Gamma Discrimination (NGD) resulted in the neutron-gamma efficiency ratio on the orders of 10 5 -10 6 . The NGD ratios of 3 He detectors need to be improved for even better scientific results from neutron scattering. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) analyses of waveforms were proposed for obtaining better NGD ratios, based on features extracted from rise-time, pulse amplitude, charge integration, a simplified Wiener filter, and the cross-correlation between individual and template waveforms of neutron and gamma events. Fisher linear discriminant analysis (FLDA) and three multivariate analyses (MVAs) of the features were performed. The NGD ratios are improved by about 10 2 -10 3 times compared with the traditional PHA method. Finally, our results indicate the NGD capabilities of 3 He tube detectors can be significantly improved with subspace-learning based methods, which may result in a reduced data-collection time and better data quality for further data reduction.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Algorithms for coordinate reconstruction in position-sensitive virtual Frisch-grid detectors

Arrays of position-sensitive virtual Frisch-grid (VFG) CdZnTe (CZT) detectors provide a cost-effective solution for integrating large-area arrays for gamma-ray imaging and spectroscopy. These detectors employ high-aspect ratio CZT crystals (bars) with thicknesses up to 50 mm and cross-sections of up to 10 × 10 mm 2 . Despite the long drift distances of charge carriers in such crystals, the detectors have demonstrated excellent performance, achieving energy resolutions better than 1 % full width at half maximum (FWHM) at 662 keV and 3D position resolutions finer than 1 mm. The high spatial resolution is a critical feature of these detectors, as it enables correction of response non-uniformities caused by crystal defects, which remain present even in the highest-quality CZT material. Dislocations and dislocation walls are the primary defects responsible for variations in charge carrier losses as they drift from the interaction points toward the charge-collecting electrodes. The mechanism by which these defects affect carrier transport is generally well understood. Dislocations and sub-grain boundaries act as sinks for carrier-trapping centers, primarily impurities and secondary phases such as tellurium inclusions and precipitates. Here, these regions exhibit significantly higher carrier-trapping rates, leading to variations in the μτ-products. Because the locations of these micron-sized regions are fixed within the detector volume, fluctuations in the total collected charge arise from the random distribution of interaction sites. This results in non-uniform detector responses and degradation of energy resolution. However, by measuring the interaction-site locations with sufficient precision, charge-loss variations can be accurately corrected, allowing recovery of nearly intrinsic energy resolution.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Neutron Detectors for Scattering Applications

The book covers, for the first time, the most common neutron detectors used in neutron scattering facilities and all of those in use at Oak Ridge National Lab. The first two chapters describe the facilities, instruments and the critical detector parameters needed by various instruments. The third chapter focuses on the key components of the 3He-based linear position sensitive detectors as well as on their electronics, which require particular attention to signal-processing and noise reduction. The fourth chapter is dedicated to the 3He alternatives where scintillators play a critical role. Finally, chapter 5 covers emerging neutron detection technologies including semiconductors, vacuum-based devices and their associated readouts, which will be required in the future for high rate and high-resolution neutron detectors.

Diawara, Yacouba↗

Design and performance of a large area neutron sensitive anger camera

We describe the design and performance of a 157mm x 157mm two dimensional neutron detector. The detector uses the Anger principle to determine the position of neutrons. We have verified FWHM resolution of < 1.2mm with distortion < 0.5mm on over 50 installed Anger Cameras. The performance of the detector is limited by the light yield of the scintillator, and it is estimated that the resolution of the current detector could be doubled with a brighter scintillator. Data collected from small (<1mm 3 ) single crystal reference samples at the single crystal instrument TOPAZ provide results with low R w (F) values

42 ENGINEERING↗

ANNIE Phase II Reconstruction Techniques

The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) is a 26-ton Gd-doped water Cherenkov detector installed in the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. The experiment has two complementary goals: (1) perform the first measurement of the neutron yield from $\nu_{\mu}$ interactions as a function of Q$^2$ in order to constrain neutrino-nucleus interaction theoretical models, and (2) demonstrate the power of new fast-timing, position-sensitive detectors by making the first deployment of Large Area Picosecond PhotoDetectors (LAPPDs) in a physics experiment. In Phase I, ANNIE successfully performed neutron background measurements. To realise the Phase II measurements the ANNIE collaboration has developed several reconstruction techniques using the arrival time and position of the Cherenkov photons in the detector photomultipliers (PMTs) and LAPPDs. A maximum-likelihood fit is used to reconstruct the neutrino interaction vertex and direction. Machine and Deep Learning techniques are used for the muon and neutrino energy reconstruction. We present the results of ANNIE reconstruction techniques and the improvement we can get in resolution with the use of LAPPDs.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Detailed Characterization of CZT Detector Response for Improved Coded-Aperture Imaging Performance

Gamma-ray imaging is a powerful method for locating and quantifying sources of radiation. The coded-aperture technique demonstrates superior angular resolution in comparison to other methods (e.g., Compton reconstruction). In this method, a mask constructed of highly attenuating material encodes the scene as a shadow pattern on a position-sensitive detector; this pattern can then be used to recreate the origin(s) of incident radiation. This is typically done through convolution of the mask and shadow patterns. Iterative methods which attempt to reconstruct the observed shadow pattern using a weighted combination of simulated patterns may also be employed. In either case, errors in event position reconstruction due to detector imperfections alter the shadow pattern and will therefore degrade system performance and may introduce imaging artifacts. These effects can be mitigated with a detailed understanding of such errors – allowing for the generation of representative simulations that include the errors and/or correction of raw imager data to remove the errors. We present a calibration process for a commercially available cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) gamma imager which provides a comprehensive characterization of the spatial and energy dependence of event reconstruction. By illuminating a mask featuring a regular grid of pinholes with a calibration source, the localized response of the detector can be measured with fine granularity. These local responses are combined to generate a full detector response map which can be used to distort simulations in a manner that is representative of the observed detector data. Details of the calibration procedure and an assessment of the impact of its end products on the performance of iterative imaging methods will be presented.

Ziock, Klaus-Peter↗

Alignment, orientation, and Coulomb explosion of difluoroiodobenzene studied with the pixel imaging mass spectrometry (PImMS) camera

Laser-induced adiabatic alignment and mixed-field orientation of 2,6-difluoroiodobenzene (C 6 H 3 F 2 I) molecules are probed by Coulomb explosion imaging following either near-infrared strong-field ionization or extreme-ultraviolet multi-photon inner-shell ionization using free-electron laser pulses. The resulting photoelectrons and fragment ions are captured by a double-sided velocity map imaging spectrometer and projected onto two position-sensitive detectors. The ion side of the spectrometer is equipped with a pixel imaging mass spectrometry camera, a time-stamping pixelated detector that can record the hit positions and arrival times of up to four ions per pixel per acquisition cycle. Thus, the time-of-flight trace and ion momentum distributions for all fragments can be recorded simultaneously. Finally, we show that we can obtain a high degree of one-and three-dimensional alignment and mixed-field orientation and compare the Coulomb explosion process induced at both wavelengths

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Time-Encoded Imagers

We have developed two neutron detector systems based on time-encoded imaging and demonstrated their applicability toward non-proliferation missions. The 1D-TEI system was designed for and evaluated against the ability to detect Special Nuclear Material (SNM) in very low signal to noise environments; in particular, very large stand-off and/or weak sources that may be shielded. We have demonstrated significant detection (>5 sigma) of a 2.8e5 n/s neutron fission source at 100 meters stand-off in 30 min. If scaled to an IAEA significant quantity of Pu, we estimate that this could be reduced to as few as ~5 minutes. In contrast to simple counting detectors, this was accomplished without the need of previous background measurements. The 2D-TEI system was designed for high resolution spatial mapping of distributions of SNM and proved feasibility of twodimensional fast neutron imaging using the time encoded modulation of rates on a single pixel detector. Because of the simplicity of the TEI design, there is much lower systematic uncertainty in the detector response typical coded apertures. Other imaging methods require either multiple interactions (e.g. neutron scatter camera or Compton imagers), leading to intrinsically low efficiencies, or spatial modulation of the signal (e.g., Neutron Coded Aperture Imager (Hausladen, 2012)), which requires a complicated, high channel count, and expensive position sensitive detector. In contrast, a single detector using a time-modulated collimator can encode directional information in the time distribution of detected events. This is the first investigation of time-encoded imaging for nuclear nonproliferation applications.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Neutron Imaging of Advanced Transportation Technologies

Unlike X-rays, neutrons are very sensitive to light elements such as hydrogen (H) atoms and can penetrate through thick layers of metals (Figure 1a). These two properties suggest neutrons are well suited to probe engine parts such as diesel particulate filters, exhaust gas recirculation coolers, fuel injectors, oil in engines, oil residues in filters, batteries, advanced materials, etc. Neutron imaging is based on the interactions of a sample with a neutron beam. The interactions are dependent on sample thickness/density and elemental make-up and result in absorption and scattering of neutrons within the sample. A two-dimensional position-sensitive detector placed behind the sample can measure the transmitted neutron flux (Figure 1b). When combined with a high-precision (~1/100 of a degree) rotational stage, it is possible to perform computed tomography (CT) scans and thus generate 3-dimensional images of working fluids inside real devices. Samples can be analyzed at one position or a complete reconstruction can provide a cross-section of the entire sample at a resolution of the detector; the detector resolution is currently at ~50–80 microns (at the detector).

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

The high intensity diffractometer for residual stress analysis (HIDRA), a third generation residual stress mapping neutron diffractometer at the high flux isotope reactor

This paper describes the hardware and software upgrades, operation, and performance of the high intensity diffractometer for residual stress analysis (HIDRA) instrument, a residual stress mapping neutron diffractometer located at the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge Tennessee, USA. Following a major upgrade in 2018, the new instrument has a single 3 He multiwire 2D 30 × 30 cm 2 position sensitive detector, yielding a field of view of 17° 2θ. Further, the increase in the field of view (from 4° 2θ) from the previous model instrument has contributed to the tremendous improvement in the out of plane solid angle such that the 3D count rate could be obtained easily. Accordingly, the hardware, software, Data Acquisition System (DAS), and so on have also been updated. Finally, all these enhanced features of HIDRA have been ably demonstrated by conducting multi directional diffraction measurements in the quenched 750-T74 aluminum, and the evolved and improved strain/stress mappings are presented.

3D printing↗

The Wide Angle Neutron Diffractometer squared (WAND2) - Possibilities and future

The Wide Angle Neutron Diffractometer (WAND) at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been built and continues to be, a joint project between ORNL and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). Equipped with a 1-dimensional position sensitive detector (PSD), the instrument is a multi-purpose instrument for both powder and single crystal diffraction. WAND is currently in the process of a 2-phase upgrade to become a world-class, general purpose instrument. In phase 1, finished in the beginning of 2016, the whole instrument was essentially re-built from scratch, keeping only the front-end and the 1-D PSD. Phase 2 will replace the 1-D PSD with the state-of-the-art BNL120 2-D PSD which comes from the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Currently, the detector is integrated off-line into the data acquisition architecture at HFIR and SNS. The new instrument, WAND2, will have event mode capability, improved efficiency, and higher resolution and will be available for general users in the proposal call 2018A. This contribution presents results highlighting the improvements on WAND after phase 1. The upgraded instrument now accommodates the whole suite of available sample environment (50 mK–1500 K, magnetic fields (5 T), high pressures (4 GPa)). Also, the background could be reduced significantly by a factor of 2 through improved shielding, allowing the detection of weak signals. The phase 2 upgrade will require new electronics, data acquisition, and visualization and will result in an altogether new instrument: WAND2.

Frontzek, Matthias D.↗

DAVIS: A direct algorithm for velocity-map imaging system

Here, we report a direct (non-iterative) algorithm to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) momentum-space picture of any charged particles collected with a velocity-map imaging system from the two-dimensional (2D) projected image captured by a position-sensitive detector. The technique consists of fitting the measured image with the 2D projection of a model 3D velocity distribution defined by the physics of the light-matter interaction. The meaningful angle-correlated information is first extracted from the raw data by expanding the image with a complete set of Legendre polynomials. Both the particle’s angular and energy distributions are then directly retrieved from the expansion coefficients. The algorithm is simple, easy to implement, fast, and explicitly takes into account the pixelization effect in the measurement.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

WAND 2 —A versatile wide angle neutron powder/single crystal diffractometer

Wide Angle Neutron Diffractometer Squared is a high-flux versatile diffractometer with a 2-Dimensional Position Sensitive Detector at the High Flux Isotope Reactor. The instrument has strengths in both powder and single crystal diffraction. It is a unique instrument in the neutron scattering landscape of North America, and its capabilities are at least equal to similar instruments in the world.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

A versatile Johansson-type tender x-ray emission spectrometer

We present a high energy resolution x-ray spectrometer for the tender x-ray regime (1.6–5.0 keV) that was designed and operated at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource. The instrument is developed on a Rowland geometry (500 mm of radius) using cylindrically bent Johansson analyzers and a position sensitive detector. By placing the sample inside the Rowland circle, the spectrometer operates in an energy-dispersive mode with a subnatural line-width energy resolution (~0.32 eV at 2400 eV), even when an extended incident x-ray beam is used across a wide range of diffraction angles (~30° to 65°). The spectrometer is enclosed in a vacuum chamber, and a sample chamber with independent ambient conditions is introduced to enable a versatile and fast-access sample environment (e.g., solid/gas/liquid samples, in situ cells, and radioactive materials). The design, capabilities, and performance are presented and discussed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Photoionization microscopy of the lithium atom: Wave-function imaging of quasibound and continuum Stark states

Photoionization of an atom in the presence of a uniform static electric field provides the unique opportunity to expand and visualize the atomic wave function at a macroscopic scale. In a number of seminal publications dating back to the 1980s, Fabrikant, Demkov, Kondratovich, and Ostrovsky showed that this goal could be achieved by projecting slow (meV) photoionized electrons onto a position-sensitive detector and underlined the distinction between continuum and resonant contributions. Here, the uncovering of resonant signatures was achieved fairly recently in experiments on the nonhydrogenic lithium atoms [Cohen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 183001 (2013)]. The purpose of the present article is the general description of these findings, with emphasis on the various manifestations of resonant character. From this point of view, lithium has been chosen as an illustrative example between the two limiting cases of hydrogen, where resonance effects are more easily identified, and heavy atoms like xenon, where resonant effects were not observed.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Efficient data extraction from neutron time-of-flight spin-echo raw data

Neutron spin-echo spectrometers with a position-sensitive detector and operating with extended time-of-flight-tagged wavelength frames are able to collect a comprehensive set of data covering a large range of wavevector and Fourier time space with only a few instrumental settings in a quasi-continuous way. Extracting all the information contained in the raw data and mapping them to a suitable physical space in the most efficient way is a challenge. This article reports algorithms employed in dedicated software, DrSpine (data reduction for spin echo), that achieves this goal and yields reliable representations of the intermediate scattering function S(Q, t) independent of the selected `binning'.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗