Chasing quantitative biases in neutron imaging with scintillator-camera detectors: a practical method with black body...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nuclear Engineering
• Imaging Science

Background:

• Neutron imaging is crucial for material analysis but susceptible to systematic biases.
• Scattered neutrons and detector light reflections introduce quantification errors in scintillator-camera systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an experimental method for correcting quantification biases in neutron imaging.
• To improve the accuracy and reduce uncertainty in tomographic reconstructions from neutron imaging data.

Main Methods:

• An experimental technique using a grid of black bodies (BB) to measure bias contributions directly.
• Correction applied to neutron imaging data from lead alloy (20% transmission) and stainless-steel (1% transmission) samples.
• Evaluation of bias reduction and uncertainty improvement after tomographic reconstruction.

Main Results:

• Quantification bias reduced by up to one order of magnitude.
• Effective correction achieved for both moderate and very low neutron transmission samples.
• Demonstrated the critical importance of black body grid placement for low-transmission samples.

Conclusions:

• The proposed experimental method effectively corrects systematic biases in neutron imaging.
• This technique enhances the reliability of quantitative analysis in neutron imaging applications.
• Careful experimental setup, particularly BB placement, is vital for optimal results with challenging samples.