Demonstration of a neutron resonance transmission analysis system using a laser-driven neutron source

Neutron resonance transmission analysis (NRTA) is a method for non-destructive measurement of nuclear material by using a time-of-flight (TOF) technique with a pulsed neutron source. For NRTA system to carry out the short-distance TOF measurements with high resolutions, a short-pulsed neutron source is required. Laser-driven neutron sources (LDNSs) are very suitable as such neutron sources because of their short pulse width. Moreover, the compactness of the laser system is also expected due to the remarkable development of laser technology in recent years. In the present study, we have developed a technology for applying LDNS to the NRTA system and conducted the demonstration experiment using the LFEX laser at Osaka University to investigate the feasibility of the system. In this experiment, we observed some areas of reduced transmission in a neutron TOF spectrum, possibly due to indium and silver samples. (author)