High-Yield D-T Neutron Generator

A high-yield D-T neutron generator has been developed for neutron interrogation in homeland security applications such as cargo screening. The generator has been designed as a sealed tube with a performance goal of producing 5 {center_dot} 10{sup 11} n/s over a long lifetime. The key generator components developed are a radio-frequency (RF) driven ion source and a beam-loaded neutron production target that can handle a beam power of 10 kW. The ion source can provide a 100 mA D{sup +}/T{sup +} beam current with a high fraction of atomic species and can be pulsed up to frequencies of several kHz for pulsed neutron generator operation. Testing in D-D operation has been started

Irradiation of Materials with Short, Intense Ion pulses at NDCX-II

We present an overview of the performance of the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment-II (NDCX-II) accelerator at Berkeley Lab, and report on recent target experiments on beam driven melting and transmission ion energy loss measurements with nanosecond and millimeter-scale ion beam pulses and thin tin foils. Bunches with around 10^11 ions, 1-mm radius, and 2-30 ns FWHM duration have been created with corresponding fluences in the range of 0.1 to 0.7 J/cm^2. To achieve these short pulse durations and mm-scale focal spot radii, the 1.1 MeV He+ ion beam is neutralized in a drift compression section, which removes the space charge defocusing effect during final compression and focusing. The beam space charge and drift compression techniques resemble necessary beam conditions and manipulations in heavy ion inertial fusion accelerators. Quantitative comparison of detailed particle-in-cell simulations with the experiment play an important role in optimizing accelerator performance.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures. revised manuscript submitted to Laser and Particle Beam

A Sixteen Channel Peak Sensing ADC for Singles Spectra in the FERA Format

To read out multi-element small X-ray detectors for X-ray fluorescence application with synchrotron radiation one needs the capability to record multiple singles spectra for each detector element at high rates. We have developed a sixteen channel 11 bit peak sensing ADC in a CAMAC module. We use the FERA readout bus to place the data into a commercially available histogramming module developed to generate multiple histograms from FERA ADCs. The sixteen channels digitize shaped pulses from the detectors without external gating. The digitizing time is 8 {mu}sec, the peak acquisition time is {>=} 2 {mu}sec. The module contains a LiFO to permit block transfers in order to minimize dead times associated with the readout. There is a common CAMAC controlled analog threshold for noise suppression and a 16 bit mask to enable or disable individual ADCs. Differential non-linearity is less than +8% / -4%. A {gamma}-ray spectrum collected using this ADC is presented

Design and Implementation of a Thomson Parabola for Fluence Dependent Energy-Loss Measurements at the Neutralized Drift Compression eXperiment

The interaction of ion beams with matter includes the investigation of the basic principles of ion stopping in heated materials. An unsolved question is the effect of different, especially higher, ion beam fluences on ion stopping in solid targets. This is relevant in applications such as in fusion sciences. To address this question, a Thomson parabola was built for the Neutralized Drift Compression eXperiment (NDCX-II) for ion energy-loss measurements at different ion beam fluences. The linear induction accelerator NDCX-II delivers 2 ns short, intense ion pulses, up to several tens of nC/pulse, or 10$^{10}$-10$^{11}$ ions, with a peak kinetic energy of ~1.1 MeV and a minimal spot size of 2 mm FWHM. For this particular accelerator the energy determination with conventional beam diagnostics, for example, time of flight measurements, is imprecise due to the non-trivial longitudinal phase space of the beam. In contrast, a Thomson parabola is well suited to reliably determine the beam energy distribution. The Thomson parabola differentiates charged particles by energy and charge-to-mass ratio, through deflection of charged particles by electric and magnetic fields. During first proof-of-principle experiments, we achieved to reproduce the average initial helium beam energy as predicted by computer simulations with a deviation of only 1.4 %. Successful energy-loss measurements with 1 {\mu}m thick Silicon Nitride foils show the suitability of the accelerator for such experiments. The initial ion energy was determined during a primary measurement without a target, while a second measurement, incorporating the target, was used to determine the transmitted energy. The energy-loss was then determined as the difference between the two energies

Comparative Analysis of the Mechanisms of Fast Light Particle Formation in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions at Low and Intermediate Energies

The dynamics and the mechanisms of preequilibrium-light-particle formation in nucleus-nucleus collisions at low and intermediate energies are studied on the basis of a classical four-body model. The angular and energy distributions of light particles from such processes are calculated. It is found that, at energies below 50 MeV per nucleon, the hardest section of the energy spectrum is formed owing to the acceleration of light particles from the target by the mean field of the projectile nucleus. Good agreement with available experimental data is obtained.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, LaTeX, published in Physics of Atomic Nuclei v.65, No. 8, 2002, pp. 1459 - 1473 translated from Yadernaya Fizika v. 65, No. 8, 2002, pp. 1494 - 150

Initial Experimental Verification of the Neutron Beam Modeling for the LBNL BNCT Facility

In preparation for future clinical BNCT trials, neutron production via the 7Li(p,n) reaction as well as subsequent moderation to produce epithermal neutrons have been studied. Proper design of a moderator and filter assembly is crucial in producing an optimal epithermal neutron spectrum for brain tumor treatments. Based on in-phantom figures-of-merit,desirable assemblies have been identified. Experiments were performed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's 88-inch cyclotron to characterize epithermal neutron beams created using several microampere of 2.5 MeV protons on a lithium target. The neutron moderating assembly consisted of Al/AlF3 and Teflon, with a lead reflector to produce an epithermal spectrum strongly peaked at 10-20 keV. The thermal neutron fluence was measured as a function of depth in a cubic lucite head phantom by neutron activation in gold foils. Portions of the neutron spectrum were measured by in-air activation of six cadmium-covered materials (Au, Mn, In, Cu, Co, W) with high epithermal neutron absorption resonances. The results are reasonably reproduced in Monte Carlo computational models, confirming their validity

Accelerator-Driven Neutron Source for Cargo Screening

Advanced neutron interrogation systems for the screening ofsea-land cargo containers for shielded special nuclear materials (SNM)require a high-yield neutron source to achieve the desired detectionprobability, false alarm rate, and throughput. An accelerator-drivenneutron source is described that produces a forward directed beam ofhigh-energy (up to 8.5 MeV) neutrons utilizing the D(d,n)3He reaction atdeuteron beam energies of up to 6 MeV. The key components of the neutronsource are a high-current RFQ accelerator and an innovative neutronproduction target. A microwave-driven deuteron source is coupled to anelectrostatic LEBT that injects a 40 mA D+-beam into a 6 MeV, 5.1meter-long, 200 MHz RFQ. The RFQ is based on an unusual beam dynamicsdesign and is capable of operating at a duty factor that produces morethan 1.2 mA timeaverage beam current. The beam is transported to a2-atmosphere deuterium gas target with a specially-designed, thinentrance window. A high-frequency dipole magnet is used to spread thebeam over the long dimension of the 4 by 35 cm target window. The sourcewill be capable of delivering a neutron flux of ~;2 x 107 n/(cm2 x s) tothe center of a sea-land cargo container and is expected t o satisfy therequirements for full testing and demonstration of advanced neutroninterrogation techniques based on stimulated SNM signatures

Pre-conceptual Design of a Rapid Cycling Medical Synchrotron

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Progress in multi-element silicon detectors for synchrotron XRF applications

Multi-element silicon strip detectors, in conjunction with integrated circuit pulse-processing electronics, offer an attractive alternative to conventional lithium-drifted silicon and high purity germanium detectors for high count rate, low noise synchrotron x-ray fluorescence applications. We have been developing these types of detectors specifically for low noise synchrotron applications, such as extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, microprobe x-ray fluorescence and total reflection x-ray fluorescence. The current version of the 192-element detector and integrated circuit preamplifier, cooled to {minus}25{degrees}C with a single-stage thermoelectric cooler, achieves an energy resolution of <200 eV full width of half maximum (FWHM) per channel (at 5.9 keV, 2 {mu}s peaking time), and each detector element is designed to handle {approximately}20 kHz count rate. The detector system will soon be completed to 64 channels using new application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) amplifier chips, new CAMAC (Computer Automated Measurement and Control standard) analog-to-digital converters recently developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), CAMAC histogramming modules, and Macintosh-based data acquisition software. We report on the characteristics of this detector system, and the work in progress towards the next generation system