The effect of the imaging geometry and the impact of neutron scatter on the detection of small features in accelerator-based fast neutron radiography

In fast neutron radiography, the neutron energy spectrum, the imaging geometry, neutron scattering and the position-sensitive detector influence the feature contrast, resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio in the image. The effect of the imaging geometry can be explored by using a ray-tracing method. This requires following the path of neutrons through the imaging field, which includes the sample of interest. A relationship between imaging geometry and feature detectability can be developed. are several important physical processes that govern image formation in fast neutron radiography. These are often examined individually in order to develop an understanding of how they affect the detectability of a feature in a radiograph; however, their combined effect is required to develop a model that can be regarded as a benchmark for future applications. In order to accomplish this, diverse techniques and tools are used. s study it was expected that the ray-tracing experiments would show that changes in the imaging geometry would greatly affect the detectability of small features as a result of a loss in the resolution and indirectly the contrast. The effect of neutron scatter on the detectability of small features was taken into consideration by using Monte Carlo code MCNP-4A.