Award Data

The goal of this program is to develop the mixed elpasolite scintillators in order to achieve an energy resolution of  (≤ 2.5% (approaching 2%) at 662 keV for crystal sizes of up to 2 inch by 2 inch.  In this project we will investigate compositional changes in selected mixed-elpasolite(s) in order to achieve very high energy resolution.  By incorporating 6Li, neutron detection will also be t ...

The ability to discriminate between threatening and benign sources depends on the sensitivity, accuracy, and identification speed of the detection equipment. High energy resolution of the radionuclide sensor is necessary to decrease the likelihood of false identification. However, few scintillators achieve better than 3% energy resolution at 662 keV, and none exceed 2.5%. The goal of this effort i ...

There is significant interest in multi-functional materials enabling gamma-ray spectroscopy, neutron/gamma pulse shape discrimination (PSD), ultra-fast response, and time-of-flight (TOF) neutron detection. These materials would be used in a variety of mission scenarios for the localization and monitoring of special nuclear materials. Commercial inorganic scintillators offer some of these character ...

Improving the effectiveness of counter-WMD operations requires improved understanding of weapon-target interaction. Specifically, time-resolved measurements of temperature and composition are required to allow temporal evolution of a detonation fireball. To address this need, SA Photonics will develop MONITOR, a laser-based temperature diagnostic that will enable wide dynamic range temperature mea ...

This program will demonstrate how additive manufacturing technologies can be used with reactive and high energy materials to create rapid and flexible fabrication of payload and munitions. Our primary approach to this problem will be to use powder bed binder printing techniques to print reactive structures. The anticipated feedstock will consist of composite particles containing all reactant spe ...

The introduction of substandard or counterfeit materials into the DoD supply chain can have extremely expensive, and potentially life threatening, consequences. Current techniques used to detect nonconforming materiel can be destructive (e.g., manual sectioning and inspection of a part), time consuming and expensive (e.g., micro-computed tomography, ultrasound), or provide only limited informatio ...

Military operators must identify and catalogue the equipment they find when inspecting laboratory facilities. This information is used to determine the lab’s capabilities, including the lab’s potential for building weapons of mass destruction. Currently, operators use computer vision algorithms to help them classify equipment in pictures of laboratory environments. Unfortunately, current image ...

"Micro-calorimetry is a Nondestructive Test (NDT) capable of detecting heat characteristics that could identify improperly processed, counterfeit, substandard, nonconforming or fake raw material prior to materials introduction into end-product production cycles. Current calorimetric technology is an extremely sensitive, expensive and time consuming process, utilizing an adiabatic or semi-adiabat ...

While aluminum casing materials provide some enhanced performance and thermal loading to explosive ordinance, their overall effectiveness is highly limited by incomplete combustion and long residence times. In order to reduce these problems, the casing material must be designed to facilitate rapid fragmentation through either specialized casing geometries or greatly refined initial particle sizes. ...

For effective protection against EMP and HPM threats, it is important to understand the physics of the threats, and also to quantify the effects they have on electrical systems. EMP and HPM vulnerability testing requires delivery of high peak power and electric fields to distant targets. The most practical solution to simulate such environments is to develop a modular, optically-isolated MV-antenn ...