Demonstration of non-destructive and isotope-sensitive material analysis using a short-pulsed laser-driven epi-thermal neutron source

Zimmer, Marc; Scheuren, Stefan; Kleinschmidt, A.; Mitura, Nikodem; Tebartz, A.; Schaumann, G.; Abel, Torsten; Ebert, Tina; Hesse, Markus C.; Zähter, Ş.; Vogel, Sven C.; Merle, O.; Ahlers, Rolf-Juergen; Pinto, S. Duarte; Peschke, Maximilian; Kröll, T.; Bagnoud, V.; Rödel, Christian; Roth, Markus

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28756-0

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…1. These increased neutron yields are required to enable a wide range of research and applications, such as investigation of nucleosynthesis in the laboratory ( 44 ), performing nondestructive material analysis ( 45 ), and industrial applications ( 46 ). To illustrate this point, Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undepleted direct laser acceleration

Cohen,

Meir,

Tangtartharakul

et al. 2024

Sci. Adv.

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Intense lasers enable generating high-energy particle beams in university-scale laboratories. With the direct laser acceleration (DLA) method, the leading part of the laser pulse ionizes the target material and forms a positively charged ion plasma channel into which electrons are injected and accelerated. The high energy conversion efficiency of DLA makes it ideal for generating large numbers of photonuclear reactions. In this work, we reveal that, for efficient DLA to prevail, a target material of sufficiently high atomic number is required to maintain the injection of ionization electrons at the peak intensity of the pulse when the DLA channel is already formed. We demonstrate experimentally and numerically that, when the atomic number is too low, the target is depleted of its ionization electrons prematurely. Applying this understanding to multi-petawatt laser experiments is expected to result in increased neutron yields, a perquisite for a wide range of research and applications.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undepleted direct laser acceleration

Cohen,

Meir,

Tangtartharakul

et al. 2024

Sci. Adv.

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“…Finally, while limited at the present time to large-scale pulsed neutron user facilities, the potential of laser-driven short pulse intense neutron sources 32 , 33 may provide this technique at other facilities within a decade.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

3D isotope density measurements by energy-resolved neutron imaging

Losko

Vogel

2022

Sci Rep

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Tools for three-dimensional elemental characterization are available on length scales ranging from individual atoms, using electrons as a probe, to micrometers with X-rays. However, for larger volumes up to millimeters or centimeters, quantitative measurements of elemental or isotope densities were hitherto only possible on the surface. Here, a novel quantitative elemental characterization method based on energy-resolved neutron imaging, utilizing the known neutron absorption cross sections with their ‘finger-print’ absorption resonance signatures, is demonstrated. Enabled by a pixilated time-of-flight neutron transmission detector installed at an intense short-pulsed spallation neutron source, for this demonstration 3.25 million state-of-the-art nuclear physics neutron transmission analyses were conducted to derive isotopic densities for five isotopes in 3D in a volume of 0.25 cm3. The tomographic reconstruction of the isotope densities provides elemental maps similar to X-ray microprobe maps for any cross section in the probed volume. The bulk isotopic density of a U-20Pu-10Zr-3Np-2Am nuclear transmutation fuel sample was measured, agrees well with mass-spectrometry and is evidence of the accuracy of the method.

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“…This mechanism produces a proton burst that has a relatively wide angular spread (∼10 • -20 • half-angle), with a broadband, exponentially decaying spectrum, thus limiting the proton flux at high energies. The development of helical coil (HC) accelerators, as first proposed in [3,4], has therefore shown promise to mitigate these inherent disadvantages of the TNSA mechanism, and potential as a laser driven alternative to conventional radio frequency (RF) accelerators for medical applications [5][6][7][8], production of secondary radiation sources [9][10][11], and high energy density physics [12]. The energy selection characteristic of the HC scheme is advantageous for the aforementioned applications, as, for instance, accurate control of the proton bunch energy is essential for applying Bragg peak penetration for targeted hadron therapy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual stage approach to laser-driven helical coil proton acceleration

et al. 2023

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Helical coil accelerators are a recent development in laser-driven ion production, acting on the intrinsically wide divergence and broadband energy spectrum of laser-accelerated protons to deliver ultra-low divergence and quasi-monoenergetic beams. The modularity of helical coil accelerators also provides the attractive prospective of multi-staging. Here we show, on a proof-of-principle basis, a two-stage configuration which allows optical tuning of the energy of the selected proton beamlet. Experimental data, corroborated by particle tracing simulations, highlights the importance of controlling precisely the beam injection. Efficient post-acceleration of the protons with an energy gain up to ~16 MeV (~8 MeV per stage, at an average rate of ~1 GeV/m) was achieved at an optimal time delay, which allows synchronisation of the selected protons with the accelerating longitudinal electric fields to be maintained through both stages.

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Demonstration of non-destructive and isotope-sensitive material analysis using a short-pulsed laser-driven epi-thermal neutron source

Cited by 25 publications

References 39 publications

Undepleted direct laser acceleration

Undepleted direct laser acceleration

3D isotope density measurements by energy-resolved neutron imaging

Dual stage approach to laser-driven helical coil proton acceleration

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