Mission Statement
Neutron radiography and computed tomography for applications in additive manufacturing, materials science, geoscience, biology, energy, and transportation.
Instrument Description
The CG-1D Cold Neutron Imaging Facility beam 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 path 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 field of view is 28 mm x 28 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
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
Food Science and Archeology
Water migration and degradation through time
Specifications
| Wavelength | 0.8 < λ < 6 Å |
| Highest spatial resolution | MCP: 55µm(FOV: 2.8 x 2.8 cm2) CCD: ~ 100 µm (FOV: 7 x 7 cm2) sCMOS ~ 100 µm |
| Sample-to-detector distance | 5.6 m |
| Detector | MCP, CCDs, and sCMOS |
| Detector frame rate | MCP: 10 µs for repetitive motion CCD: 1 fps (1–3 min required per image) sCMOS: 100 fps at maximum |
