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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Sub-critical assembly die-away analysis with organic scintillators

Determining the reactivity of systems containing fissile material is essential for verifying safety, and possession and enrichment levels. The goal of this experiment was to characterize a subcritical nuclear fuel assembly irradiated by a pulsed neutron generator through differential die-away analysis. Similar characterizations are commonly performed with thermal neutron detectors, but these detectors are bulky and cumbersome, the materials are not widely available, and timing can be clouded by the required thermalization time. In this work, an organic scintillator capable of detecting both neutrons and photons was used to measure the die-away profiles of both particles. These time profiles were then used to estimate the reactivity of the assembly. Here, the calculated reactivity estimates compare favorably to simulated estimates, and therefore provide a useful tool for fissile material characterization.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1985

Ariel 6 measurements of ultra-heavy cosmic ray fluxes in the region 34 or = Z or = 48

The Ariel VI satellite was launched by NASA on a Scout rocket on 3rd June 1979 from Wallops Island, Virginia, USA, into a near circular 625 km orbit inclined at 55 deg. It carried a spherical cosmic ray detector designed by a group from Bristol University. A spherical aluminum vessel of diameter 75 cm contains a gas scintillation mixture and a thin spherical shell of Pilot 425 plastic, and forms a single optical cavity viewed by 16 photomultipliers. Particle tracks through the detector may be characterized by their impact parameter p and by whether or not they pass through the cup of plastic scintillator placed between the sphere and the spacecraft body (referred to below as the Anti-Coincidence Detector or ACD). Individual particle charges are determined by separately measuring the gas scintillation and the Cerenkov emission from the plastic shell. This is possible because of the quite different distribution in time of these emissions.

Fowler, P. H.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Gamma Equipment System Requirements by Application

This document outlines a set of requirements for gamma sensitive systems applied to three different applications: (1) homeland security (search and identification); (2) in-situ quantification; and (3) quantification in a material characterization laboratory. These three applications represent a range of activities that a country might use for locating, identifying, and quantifying radioactive material. These applications require increasing accuracy and system advancements, and skill levels. This document considers systems with various detector types and are characterized by their energy resolution: (1) low resolution (e.g., NaI(Tl) scintillation) and (2) higher resolution (e.g., high-purity germanium [HPGe] solid state) systems. The higher resolution systems also include cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) and only mechanically cooled HPGe systems are considered. These detectors and their associated acquisition hardware and analysis software afford a broad range of capabilities with corresponding ranges of complexity, maintainability, and cost. Ultimately, the equipment must meet the measurement goals of the application, and compliance with a given list of hardware specifications does not in itself guarantee meeting those goals. Examples of typical performance objectives for international safeguards applications are documented in International Target Values 2010 for Measurement Uncertainties in Safeguarding Nuclear Materials (IAEA, STR-368, November 2010). Selection of the detector type best suited to a specific application is often a compromise between “state of the art” or best available option and what is practical.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Characterization of Neutron Emission Rates of Commercial 252 Cf Sources

Accurate knowledge of 252 Cf neutron emission rates is critical for modeling and fast-neutron experiments, yet commercial sources are often supplied without traceable calibration or uncertainty estimates. This report describes a method to characterize 252 Cf sources using a pulse-shape-discrimination (PSD) scintillator. The scintillator was efficiency-calibrated against a time-tagged 252 Cf fission chamber manufactured at ORNL over 40 years ago. Isotopic evolution of the calibration source was modeled using Bateman equations to account for changes in the effective average neutrons per fission at the time of measurement. The calibrated scintillator was then used to measure absolute emission rates of several commercial 252 Cf sources, revealing deviations of up to 12% from nominal manufacturer values. This methodology provides a practical approach for establishing uncertainty-quantified 252 Cf neutron emission rates, improving fidelity in simulations and supporting the accurate interpretation of measurements.

46 - INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AN↗
NASA NTRS1988

The project EGRET (Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope) on NASA's Gamma-Ray Observatory (GRO)

The design, predicted performance, and scientific objectives of the 20-30,000-MeV gamma-ray telescope EGRET for the NASA GRO spacecraft (scheduled for Space Shuttle launch to a 450-km 28.5-deg orbit in 1990) are reviewed. The other GRO instruments are briefly characterized, including the burst and transient-source experiment, the oriented scintillation spectrometer, and the imaging Compton telescope. EGRET comprises an anticoincidence system, a spark chamber, a triggering telescope, an NaI total-absorption spectrometer, a gas supply capable of refilling the chamber four times, and support electronics. EGRET will operate with energy resolution about 15 percent, effective area about 2000 sq cm, sensitivity about 5 x 10 to the -8th/sq cm sec, angular resolution 0.1-0.4 deg, and FOV about 40 deg FWHM. Observations of Galactic point sources, Galactic and extragalactic diffuse emission, gamma-ray bursts, and solar flares are planned.

Kanbach, G.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Multiple Coulomb scattering in acrylic of a 221.3 MeV therapeutic proton beam

Measurements of multiple Coulomb scattering (MCS) distributions for 221.3 MeV therapeutic protons are presented using a novel detector system comprised of a thin scintillator, a pellicle mirror, and a digital camera. The MCS distributions were characterized for three acrylic phantoms of varying lengths and for two biological density-equivalent phantoms simulating bone and muscle. Additionally, beam profiles were measured across an energy range of 80.3–221.3 MeV in 20 MeV increments. The observed energy dependence of the photon yields is consistent with the tabulated stopping power values. Finally, the experimental results are benchmarked against Geant4 simulations, demonstrating consistent agreement and validating the capability of the detector system for radiology measurements.

Digital camera↗
DOE OSTI2022

TRIPWIRE – Deployment and Field-Testing Report

TRIPWIRE is a multi-modal system for containment verification in inaccessible radiological and nuclear waste repositories. The sensing modes are focused on radiation, electromagnetic and vibration. The radiation detection component has been developed over the last three years at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This development has focused on the fabrication, characterization, and testing of long-length (greater than 10-m) plastic scintillating fibers. This fiscal year, the focus of TRIPWIRE has been on field testing and demonstration of the radiation sensing component in a relevant environment. After reviewing the static storage facilities at INL, the Radioactive Scrap Waste Facility (RSWF) south storage area outside the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) was selected due to its periodic changes in configuration and inventory. This report summarizes the research outcomes for the work performed in fiscal year (FY) 2023.

98 - NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL↗
NASA NTRS2008

Scintillation Breakdowns in Chip Tantalum Capacitors

Scintillations in solid tantalum capacitors are momentarily local breakdowns terminated by a self-healing or conversion to a high-resistive state of the manganese oxide cathode. This conversion effectively caps the defective area of the tantalum pentoxide dielectric and prevents short-circuit failures. Typically, this type of breakdown has no immediate catastrophic consequences and is often considered as nuisance rather than a failure. Scintillation breakdowns likely do not affect failures of parts under surge current conditions, and so-called "proofing" of tantalum chip capacitors, which is a controllable exposure of the part after soldering to voltages slightly higher than the operating voltage to verify that possible scintillations are self-healed, has been shown to improve the quality of the parts. However, no in-depth studies of the effect of scintillations on reliability of tantalum capacitors have been performed so far. KEMET is using scintillation breakdown testing as a tool for assessing process improvements and to compare quality of different manufacturing lots. Nevertheless, the relationship between failures and scintillation breakdowns is not clear, and this test is not considered as suitable for lot acceptance testing. In this work, scintillation breakdowns in different military-graded and commercial tantalum capacitors were characterized and related to the rated voltages and to life test failures. A model for assessment of times to failure, based on distributions of breakdown voltages, and accelerating factors of life testing are discussed.

Teverovsky, Alexander↗
NASA NTRS2015

Scintillating Quantum Dots for Imaging X-rays (SQDIX) for Aircraft Inspection

Scintillation is the process currently employed by conventional x-ray detectors to create x-ray images. Scintillating quantum dots or nano-crystals (StQDs) are a novel, nanometer-scale material that upon excitation by x-rays, re-emit the absorbed energy as visible light. StQDs theoretically have higher output efficiency than conventional scintillating materials and are more environmental friendly. This paper will present the characterization of several critical elements in the use of StQDs that have been performed along a path to the use of this technology in wide spread x-ray imaging. Initial work on the SQDIX system has shown great promise to create state-of-the-art sensors using StQDs as a sensor material. In addition, this work also demonstrates a high degree of promise using StQDs in microstructured fiber optics. Using the microstructured fiber as a light guide could greatly increase the capture efficiency a StQDs based imaging sensor.

Burke, Eric↗
NASA NTRS2016

Design of a Ka-Band Propagation Terminal for Atmospheric Measurements in Polar Regions

This paper describes the design and performance of a Ka-Band beacon receiver developed at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) that will be installed alongside an existing Ka-Band Radiometer [2] located at the east end of the Svalbard Near Earth Network (NEN) complex. The goal of this experiment is to characterize rain fade attenuation to improve the performance of existing statistical rain attenuation models. The ground terminal developed by NASA GRC utilizes an FFT-based frequency estimation [3] receiver capable of characterizing total path attenuation effects due to gaseous absorption, clouds, rain, and scintillation by directly measuring the propagated signal from the satellite Thor 7.

propagation↗
NASA NTRS2016

Design of a Ka-band Propagation Terminal for Atmospheric Measurements in Polar Regions

This paper describes the design and performance of a Ka-Band beacon receiver developed at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) that will be installed alongside an existing Ka-Band Radiometer located at the east end of the Svalbard Near Earth Network (NEN) complex. The goal of this experiment is to characterize rain fade attenuation to improve the performance of existing statistical rain attenuation models. The ground terminal developed by NASA GRC utilizes an FFT-based frequency estimation receiver capable of characterizing total path attenuation effects due to gaseous absorption, clouds, rain, and scintillation by directly measuring the propagated signal from the satellite Thor 7.

propagation↗
DOE OSTI2020

Thermal Characterization of Tl 2 LiYCl 6 :Ce (TLYC)

Tl 2 LiYCl 6 :Ce (TLYC) is a new dual-detection elpasolite scintillator that can detect and distinguish between gamma rays and neutrons using pulse shape discrimination (PSD). It has a higher density and Z -number than the more mature and well-known elpasolite Cs 2 LiYCl 6 :Ce (CLYC), causing it to have a significantly better gamma-ray stopping power. These properties make TLYC an attractive alternative to CLYC for resource-constrained applications where size and weight are important, such as space or national security applications. Such applications may be subjected to a wide range of temperatures, and therefore, TLYC's performance was characterized for the first time over a temperature range of -20 °C to +50 °C in 10 °C increments. TLYC's thermal response effects on light-output linearity with energy, gamma-ray photopeak energy resolution, detected neutron energy, pulse shapes, and figure of merit (FOM) is analyzed and reported. The light output of TLYC was found to be linear with energy over the tested temperature range and was observed to decrease with increasing temperature. The decay time of the scintillation light output was observed to decrease with decreasing temperature at short times, leading to a decreasing PSD FOM. The gamma-ray photopeak energy resolution was also observed to degrade with decreasing temperature, due to an asymmetric broadening of the photopeak at low temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Measurement of the liquid argon scintillation pulse shape using differentiable simulation in the coherent CAPTAIN-Mills experiment

The coherent CAPTAIN-Mills (CCM) experiment is a liquid argon (LAr) light collection detector searching for MeV-scale neutrino and beyond Standard Model physics signatures. Two hundred eight-inch photomultiplier tubes instrument the seven-ton fiducial volume with 50% photocathode coverage to detect light produced by charged particles. CCM’s light-based approach reduces requirements of LAr purity, compared to other detection technologies, such that sub-MeV particles can be reliably detected without additional LAr filtration and with 𝒪⁡(1) parts per million of common contaminants. We present a measurement of LAr light production and propagation parameters, with uncertainties, obtained from a sample of MeV-scale electromagnetic events. The optimization of this high-dimensional parameter space was facilitated by a differentiable optical photon Monte Carlo simulation and detailed photomultiplier tube response characterization. This result accurately predicts the timing and spatial distribution of light due to scintillation and Cherenkov emission in the detector. This is the first description of photon propagation in LAr to include several effects, including anomalous dispersion of the index of refraction near the ultraviolet resonance, Mie scattering from impurities, and Cherenkov light production.

Cherenkov detectors↗
DOE OSTI2021

Summer 2021 Co-op Report: X-Ray Scintillation Detector (A Co-op Work Experience Report)

The M-3 team was in need of a detector that could be used properly characterize their X-Ray machines. It can also be used to diagnose the X-ray in the case that problems arise before or during an experiment. They put me in charge of designing, ordering, and constructing said detector. After doing research, I found that scintillation-based detectors would be the best diagnostic tool for this purpose. It will allow the team to collect a full photon count of the X-ray pulse as well as provide spectroscopy functions with which we can view photon counts at different energy levels. This will also allow them to calculate an accurate dose given from the machine. Due to lead times, the crystals are still in manufacturing, thus the detector could not be completed. Although the designs and calculations needed to construct and operate the scintillator have been completed which is what I will be presenting in this document. Compared to the detectors being used before, my design offers a cheaper and far more efficient alternative.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Organic glass scintillator bars with dual-ended readout

Organic glass scintillator (OGS) bars (6 × 6 × 50 mm 3 ) were melt-cast and characterized with dual-ended readout by silicon photomultiplier arrays. The results were compared to trans-stilbene bars of the same size. Energy resolution was measured via a 137 Cs Compton-coincidence experiment. Time resolution was determined via a 22 Na coincidence-timing experiment. Depth-of-interaction resolution was measured by moving a gamma ray fan beam along the major axis of the bars. Pulse shape discrimination capability and neutron light output were determined via a time-of-flight measurement of a 252 Cf source. The OGS bars exhibited better energy resolution at 478 keV (10.3 ± 0.5% vs. 11.2 ± 0.5%), better time resolution from 200–341 keVee (270 ps vs. 340 ps FWHM), slightly poorer depth-of-interaction resolution, poorer PSD performance, and higher neutron light output than the stilbene bars. Here, the low cost, ease of manufacturing, brightness, and excellent time resolution make OGS a strong candidate for use in compact radiation imaging systems.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Studies of time resolution, light yield, and crosstalk using SiPM-on-tile calorimetry for the future Electron-Ion Collider

We recently proposed a high-granularity calorimeter insert for the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) that is based on plastic scintillator tiles readout with silicon photomultipliers. In this work, we concretize its design by characterizing its building blocks with measurements of light yield, optical crosstalk, and timing resolutions using cosmic-rays, an LED, and a beta source. We also compared two approaches for the optical isolation of cells: "megatiles" with grooved boundaries between cells, and a 3D-printed plastic frame hosting individual cells. Further, we found that the latter suppresses optical crosstalk to negligible levels while providing an easier assembly method. Overall, these performance studies can help inform calorimeter design and realistic simulations of 5D showers (time, energy, position) for the EIC and other experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗