Neutron scatter method and apparatus for the noninvasive interrogation of objects
AssigneePenetron, Inc.
InventorsHenry J. Gomberg, Marcus McEllistrem
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for the inspection and/or search for concealed objects impinges a monoenergetic neutron beam upon an object, notes the energy distribution of the neutrons scattered from the object and correlates the energy/intensity distribution of the scattered neutrons with the presence or absence of particular elements. The invention may be utilized to obtain qualitative or quantitative data regarding the composition of the object under interrogation.
Claims26
Apparatus for the noninvasive inspection of an object to determine the presence of at least one preselected element therein, said apparatus comprising:
- a neutron beam source having a neutron beam controller operative in cooperation therewith to sequentially provide two monoenergetic neutron beams of different energies and to sequentially impinge the beams of neutrons upon the object whereby said object scatters the beams so as to provide a first and a second group of multienergetic, scattered neutrons;
- a detector disposed to receive at least a portion of each of the groups of multienergetic scattered neutrons and operative to provide a signal corresponding thereto;
- and
- an analyzer in communication with the detector and operative to:
- (1) receive the detector output signal, (2) analyze said signal to determine the intensity of the scattered neutrons as a function of their respective energies for each of the groups of scattered neutrons so as to provide an energy/intensity spectrum for each of the groups;
- (3) compare said spectra so as to determine the difference between the intensity of scattered neutrons of the first group at a first preselected energy indicative of the scattering of the first monoenergetic beam by a particular preselected element in said object and the intensity of scattered neutrons of the second group at a second preselected energy indicative of scattering of the second monoenergetic beam by said particular preselected element and (4) correlate said difference with the scattering contribution of said preselected element.
A method for the non-invasive inspection of an object to determine a presence of at least one preselected element therein, the method comprising:
- providing a beam of neutrons;
- controlling the energy of the neutron beam so as to sequentially provide two monoenergetic neutron beams of different energies;
- sequentially impinging said beams upon the object so as to provide two groups of multienergetic scattered neutrons;
- detecting at least a portion of each of said at least two groups of multienergetic scattered neutrons and providing a signal corresponding thereto;
- analyzing the detector output signal so as to determine the intensity of the scattered neutrons of each said two groups as a function of their respective energies so as to provide an energy/intensity spectrum for each of the two groups;
- comparing said spectra so as to determine the difference between the intensity of scattered neutrons from the first group at a first preselected energy indicative of scattering of the first monoenergetic beam by a preselected element in the object and the intensity of scattered neutrons from the second group at a second preselected energy indicative of scattering of the second monoenergetic beam by the preselected element;
- and
- correlating said difference with the scattering contribution of the preselected element.
Apparatus for the noninvasive inspection of an object to determine the presence of at least one preselected element therein, said apparatus comprising:
- a neutron beam source for generating a monoenergetic beam of neutrons having an energy corresponding to the neutron resonant scattering energy of at least one of said at least one preselected elements and impinging that beam of neutrons upon the object whereby said object scatters the beam so as to provide a group of multienergetic, scattered neutrons;
- a detector disposed to receive at least a portion of the group of multienergetic scattered neutrons and operative to provide a signal corresponding thereto;
- and,
- an analyzer in communication with the detector and operative to:
- (1) receive the detector output signal, (2) analyze said signal to determine the intensity of the scattered neutrons as a function of their respective energies and (3) measure the intensity of scattered neutrons at a preselected energy which is indicative of the scattering of said monoenergetic beam by one of said at least one preselected element.
Apparatus for the noninvasive inspection of an object to determine the presence of at least one preselected element therein, said apparatus comprising:
- a neutron beam source for generating a monoenergetic beam of neutrons and impinging that beam of neutrons upon the object whereby said object scatters the beam so as to provide a group of multienergetic, scattered neutrons;
- a detector disposed to receive at least a portion of the group of multienergetic scattered neutrons and operative to provide a signal corresponding thereto;
- and
- an analyzer in communication with the detector and operative to:
- (1) receive the detector output signal, (2) analyze said signal to determine the intensity of the scattered neutrons as a function of their respective energies and (3) measure the intensity of scattered neutrons at a preselected energy which is indicative of the scattering of said monoenergetic beam by one of said at least one preselected element.
A method for the non-invasive inspection of an object to determine a presence of at least one preselected element therein, the method comprising:
- directing a beam of monoenergetic neutrons having an energy corresponding to the neutron resonant scatter energy of at least one of said at least one preselected element onto the object, whereby said object scatters the beam so as to provide a group of multienergetic scattered neutrons;
- detecting at least a portion of the group of multienergetic scattered neutrons and providing a signal corresponding thereto;
- and
- analyzing the detector output signal so as to determine the intensity of the scattered neutrons as a function of their respective energies and to measure the intensity of the scattered neutrons at a particular preselected energy, which energy is indicative of scattering of the monoenergetic beam by one of said at least one preselected element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.