Speaker
Seyed Reza Mirfayzi
(Queen's University Belfast)
Description
The neutron sources produced by employing intense laser-driven ion beams have recently received a great deal of attention. Intense lasers can produce 10s of MeV protons in a small divergence cone by, for instance, Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) mechanism, which is highly efficient in producing fast neutrons via fusion reaction with low mass atomic nuclei. Employing a neutron converter in close proximity to the laser driven ion source, a beamed neutron flux can be obtained which is highly suitable for applications and further transport. While fast neutrons are useful in many applications, such as fast neutron therapy [2], material testing in fission and fusion reactor research [3], a laser driven short bursts of moderate energy (~MeV) neutrons can be efficiently moderated to thermal and epithermal region for a wide range of applications, such as imaging [4], nuclear resonance spectroscopy [5], Boron neutron capture therapy [6] etc. Characterisation of the fast and moderated neutrons produced in an experiment at Rutherford Appleton laboratory employing 100 TW Vulcan laser will be presented. In addition, proof-of-principle study on neutron imaging of static objects will be discussed based on experimental data and simulations.
Primary authors
Mr
Aaron Alejo
(Queen's University of Belfast)
Dr
Ceri Brenner
(Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
Prof.
David Neely
(STFC)
Dr
Hamad Ahmad
(Queen's University Belfast)
Prof.
Marco Borghesi
(Queen's University Belfast)
Mr
Robert Clarke
(STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory)
Dr
Satyabrata Kar
(Queen's University Belfast)
Seyed Reza Mirfayzi
(Queen's University Belfast)
Dr
Stuart Ansell
(European Spallation Source)
