Mission Statement

Neutron radiography and computed tomography for applications in additive manufacturing, materials science, geoscience, biology, energy, and transportation.

Instrument Description

The CG-1D Neutron Imaging Facility uses a polychromatic neutron beam in the cold range for neutron imaging measurements. Apertures (with different diameters D, pinhole geometry) are used at the entrance of the helium-filled flight tube to allow variations of the figure of merit L/D, where L is the distance between the aperture and the detector where the image is produced. L/D can vary from 400 to 2000. Samples sit on a translation/rotation stage for alignment and tomography purposes. Its maximum field of view is 86 mm x 86 mm. 6LiF/ZnS scintillators varying from 50–200µ are available. Work on CG-1D supports the development of the future VENUS instrument at the Spallation Neutron Source, which will be dedicated to neutron imaging with an emphasis on time-of-flight contrast imaging. More information about VENUS is available here.

Applications

Additive Manufacturing

Porosity; internal structure; quantitative comparative analysis of neutron-computed tomography data with engineering drawings

Energy Storage

Ion transport in energy storage materials; three-dimensional mapping of ions in electrodes

Nuclear Materials

Molten salt diffusion at high temperatures, inhomogeneities in nuclear fuel material

Transporation Technologies

Particulate deposition in vehicle parts; two-phase transport in heat pipes; multiphase constrained jet flows; metal casting; reservoir flow, creation, and production

Plant Systems Biology

Partitioning, transport, and fate of carbon fixed by plants; carbon biosequestration; modeling impacts of rising CO2 levels; modified bioenergy feedstock plants; cavitation and gas embolism in plants

Plant-Soil-Groundwater Systems

Transport and interactions of fluids in porous media; water infiltration and aquifer recharge; plant-plant and plant-fungal interactions; change in pore structure and voids after repeated thawing and freezing of permafrost soil

Biological and Forensic Studies

Structural, contrast agent, and cancer research, wood and biomass pyrolysis

Food Science and Archeology

Water migration and degradation through time; examination of cultural artifacts

Specifications

Wavelength 0.8 < λ < 6 Å
Highest spatial resolution CCD: ~ 75 µm (FOV: 8.6 x 8.6 cm2)
sCMOS ~ 25 µm (FOV: ~ 3.6 x 2.4 cm2)
L/D 400-2000
Detector

CCD and sCMOS; coupled with scintillators (various thickness

from 25-200 µm)
Detector max. frame rate

CCD: 1 fps
sCMOS: 49 fps, 16-bit, global shutter

75 fps, 16-bit, rolling shutter

100 fps, 12-bit, rolling shutter