The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 25, 1995
Filed:
Aug. 13, 1993
Thomas G Miller, Madison, AL (US);
Other;
Abstract
An improved fast neutron x-y detector and radiographic/tomographic device utilizing a white neutron probe (4). The invention includes a multiple scattering filter (44), radiographic and tomographic imaging of the number densities of atoms in small volume increments through a sample 32 and the atomic, chemical and physical structure of a sample, (32), and neural net analysis techniques, where the neural net is trained through use of simulated volume increments. The invention detects fast neutrons over a two dimensional plane, measures the energy of the neutrons, and discriminates against gamma rays. In a preferred embodiment, the detector face is constructed by stacking separate bundles (6) of scintillating fiber optic strands (20) one on top of the other. The first x-y coordinate is determined by which bundle (6) the neutron strikes. The other x-y coordinate is calculated by measuring the difference in time of flight for the scintillation photon to travel to the opposite ends of the fiber optic strand 20. In another embodiment, the detector is constructed of discrete scintillator sections (48) connected to fiber optic strands (52) by couplers (50) functioning as lens. The fiber optic strands (52) are connected to a multi-anode photomultiplier (100) tube (56). The x-y coordinate of a neutron interaction is determined by the row and column of the affected scintillation section (48). Neutron energy for both detectors is calculated by measuring the flight time of a neutron from a point source (2) to the detector face.