レーザー駆動中性子源を用いた中性子共鳴透過分析システムの実証

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

弘中 浩太 ; 伊藤 史哲*; Lee, J. ; 小泉 光生 ; 高橋 時音; 鈴木 敏*; 余語 覚文*; 有川 安信*; 安部 勇輝*

Hironaka, Kota; Ito, Fumiaki*; Lee, J.; Koizumi, Mitsuo; Takahashi, Tone; Suzuki, Satoshi*; Yogo, Akifumi*; Arikawa, Yasunobu*; Abe, Yuki*

中性子共鳴透過分析(NRTA)はパルス中性子源を用いてTOF測定を行うことで核物質を非破壊測定する手法であるが、小型・高精度化には短パルスな小型中性子源が必要となる。近年発展著しいレーザー技術を用いたレーザー駆動中性子源(LDNS)は、そのような中性子源として将来を期待されている。我々はLDNSを用いたNRTAの実現可能性を調べるため、大阪大学LFEXレーザーを用いて中性子TOF測定実験を行った。

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) is very suitable as such a neutron source because of its 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 successfully observed the neutron resonance peaks of indium and silver samples.