Discriminating materials by employing fast neutron and continuous specctra X-rays

摘要

Disclosed is a method of discriminating materials by employing fast neutron and continuous spectral X-ray and an equipment for the same. The method comprises the steps of: (a) transmitting a fast neutron beam produced by a fast neutron source (12) and a continuous spectral X-ray beam produced by a continuous spectral X-ray source (22) through inspected objects (34); (b) directly measuring the intensity of the transmitted X-rays and the intensity of the transmitted neutrons by a X-ray detector array (28) and a neutron detector array (18) respectively; and (c) identifying the materials of the inspected object by Z-dependency curves formed by the attenuation differences between the neutron beam and X-ray beam transmitted through different materials of the inspected object (34). This direct measurement of transmitted dual-ray technique provides much more efficient than secondary radiations measurement such as neutron activation analysis, provides much more material discrimination sensitivity than dual-energy x-ray technique. The respective measurements of neutrons and x-rays make the usages of high detect efficiency neutron detectors and x-ray detectors possible. The using continuous spectral x-ray produced by Linac adds more advantages such as: high penetration ability, high spatial resolution, and high image quality over monoenergetic dual-ray technique. The transmitted radiation may be used to form an image.