Takenao Shinohara

Development of a neutron detector based on a position-sensitive photomultiplier

A neutron scintillation detector based on a position-sensitive photomultiplier has been developed for neutron spin echo and small angle neutron scattering measurements. This photomultiplier has good spatial resolution, less than 1 mm2. The detection efficiency of gamma ray background is very low for using a thin ZnS/6LiF scintillator. The effective area of this detector is around 60 cm2.

A new imaging method using pulsed neutron sources for visualizing structural and dynamical information

Neutron imaging using pulsed neutron sources coupled with a 2-dimensional position sensitive detector applicable to the time-of-flight method can give information on the crystal texture of coherently scattering materials, dynamical information of incoherently scattering materials such as hydrogen, and magnetic field information. Bragg edges appeared at cold neutron region reflect the preferred orientation, crystallite size, and lattice spacing. To deduce such information from the neutron transmission data depending on the position we have developed a data analysis code, and applied this code to data of a welded iron sample. Furthermore, as examples of more realistic materials we have investigated quenched iron rods. The quenched region was clearly demonstrated by the lattice space distribution. Furthermore, difference in the bound state of water or hydrogen in wet and dry cement pastes have been observed by analyzing the gradient of the neutron transmission cross section at the cold neutron region. The magnetic field has been also measured by using the polarized neutrons, and the strength of the field was estimated easily by analyzing the wave length dependent data.

A focusing-geometry small-angle neutron scattering instrument with a magnetic neutron lens

We have constructed a focusing-geometry small-angle neutron scattering (FSANS) instrument, SANS-J-II, with two kinds of neutron focusing device: a series of compound refractive lenses made of MgF2 and a magnetic neutron lens based on an extended Halbach-type sextupole magnet. In this study, we investigated the performance of the FSANS instrument with the magnetic neutron lens. The intensity distribution of a direct neutron beam focused on the detector plane by the magnetic neutron lens had a ratio of the peak height to the background level of \sim\!6\times 10^4 for a polarized neutron beam with a polarization degree of \sim \!0.99. It is found that a minimum value of the measurable q range [where q is the modulus of the scattering vector and is defined as q = (4\pi/\lambda)\sin(\theta/2), where \theta is the scattering angle and \lambda is the neutron wavelength], q_{\rm min}, of 6.5 \times 10^{-4} A−1 can be achieved by the FSANS instrument with the magnetic neutron lens using neutrons with \lambda = 6.6 A and \Delta \lambda/\lambda = 0.13 for the full width at half maximum.

Investigation of microstructure in additive manufactured Inconel 625 by spatially resolved neutron transmission spectroscopy

Abstract Non-destructive testing techniques based on neutron imaging and diffraction can provide information on the internal structure of relatively thick metal samples (up to several cm), which are opaque to other conventional non-destructive methods. Spatially resolved neutron transmission spectroscopy is an extension of traditional neutron radiography, where multiple images are acquired simultaneously, each corresponding to a narrow range of energy. The analysis of transmission spectra enables studies of bulk microstructures at the spatial resolution comparable to the detector pixel. In this study we demonstrate the possibility of imaging (with ~100 μm resolution) distribution of some microstructure properties, such as residual strain, texture, voids and impurities in Inconel 625 samples manufactured with an additive manufacturing method called direct metal laser melting (DMLM). Although this imaging technique can be implemented only in a few large-scale facilities, it can be a valuable tool for optimization of additive manufacturing techniques and materials and for correlating bulk microstructure properties to manufacturing process parameters. In addition, the experimental strain distribution can help validate finite element models which many industries use to predict the residual stress distributions in additive manufactured components.

Investigation of dissimilar metal welds by energy-resolved neutron imaging

Energy-resolved neutron imaging is used for a nondestructive study of bulk internal microstructure, elemental composition and distribution of voids in dissimilar metal-alloy welds of ∼10 mm thickness. All these characteristics are measured simultaneously in one experiment with a few hundred micrometre spatial resolution.

The Design and q Resolution of the Small and Wide Angle Neutron Scattering Instrument (TAIKAN) in J-PARC

J-PARC Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan Research Center for Neutron Science and Technology, Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS), Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan J-PARC Center, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University (KURRI), Kumatori, Osaka 590-0494, Japan

Time-of-Flight Three Dimensional Neutron Diffraction in Transmission Mode for Mapping Crystal Grain Structures

The physical properties of polycrystalline materials depend on their microstructure, which is the nano- to centimeter scale arrangement of phases and defects in their interior. Such microstructure depends on the shape, crystallographic phase and orientation, and interfacing of the grains constituting the material. This article presents a new non-destructive 3D technique to study centimeter-sized bulk samples with a spatial resolution of hundred micrometers: time-of-flight three-dimensional neutron diffraction (ToF 3DND). Compared to existing analogous X-ray diffraction techniques, ToF 3DND enables studies of samples that can be both larger in size and made of heavier elements. Moreover, ToF 3DND facilitates the use of complicated sample environments. The basic ToF 3DND setup, utilizing an imaging detector with high spatial and temporal resolution, can easily be implemented at a time-of-flight neutron beamline. The technique was developed and tested with data collected at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility of the Japan Proton Accelerator Complex (J-PARC) for an iron sample. We successfully reconstructed the shape of 108 grains and developed an indexing procedure. The reconstruction algorithms have been validated by reconstructing two stacked Co-Ni-Ga single crystals, and by comparison with a grain map obtained by post-mortem electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD).

Non-Destructive Study of Bulk Crystallinity and Elemental Composition of Natural Gold Single Crystal Samples by Energy-Resolved Neutron Imaging

Energy-resolved neutron imaging enables non-destructive analyses of bulk structure and elemental composition, which can be resolved with high spatial resolution at bright pulsed spallation neutron sources due to recent developments and improvements of neutron counting detectors. This technique, suitable for many applications, is demonstrated here with a specific study of ~5–10 mm thick natural gold samples. Through the analysis of neutron absorption resonances the spatial distribution of palladium (with average elemental concentration of ~0.4 atom% and ~5 atom%) is mapped within the gold samples. At the same time, the analysis of coherent neutron scattering in the thermal and cold energy regimes reveals which samples have a single-crystalline bulk structure through the entire sample volume. A spatially resolved analysis is possible because neutron transmission spectra are measured simultaneously on each detector pixel in the epithermal, thermal and cold energy ranges. With a pixel size of 55 μm and a detector-area of 512 by 512 pixels, a total of 262,144 neutron transmission spectra are measured concurrently. The results of our experiments indicate that high resolution energy-resolved neutron imaging is a very attractive analytical technique in cases where other conventional non-destructive methods are ineffective due to sample opacity.

A compact SEOP 3He neutron spin filter with AFP NMR

We developed AFP NMR in an aluminum container for polarized noble gas nuclei. The radio frequency magnetic field inside the aluminum container was designed from computer simulations. The polarization loss by the AFP spin flip of 3He was measured to be as low as 3.8×10−4. With this technique, a compact in-situ polarizing 3He neutron spin filter with AFP NMR is demonstrated.

Commissioning start of Energy-Resolved Neutron Imaging System, RADEN in J-PARC

Neutron News Volume 26 • Number 2 • 2015 1