Award Data

Proliferation of nuclear weapons is a serious threat in the world today. One way to determine the presence of nuclear weapons is to detect neutrons emitted by special nuclear material(SNM) such as highly enriched uranium and weapons grade plutonium. The purpose of this project is to develop improved solid state neutron detectors from CVD diamond for homeland security applications. Phase I work wil ...

New technology is needed for nondestructive inspection (NDI) of defects in metallic components on aircraft. Small cracks and flaws in multilayer components near rivets and fasteners are a particular concern. Other problems include detecting and characterizing small defects in highly confined areas. An NDI technology capable of imaging deeply buried defects at various layers of a component under a ...

Gamma-ray spectrometers consisting of inorganic scintillators coupled to optical detectors such as photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) are an important element of the systems that are used to monitor and prevent the spread of special nuclear materials. Two very important requirements for the scintillation detectors used as gamma-ray spectrometers in homeland security monitoring include high sensitivity a ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Radiation Monitoring Devices ( RMD') is developing a digital radiographic imaging technology that is based upon a semiconductor x-ray receptor. The more specific, targeted application is mammographic imaging (including breast tomosynthesis) for which the benefits of this technology will later be described. At the core of this research, RMD is developing the pr ...

Available digital dosimeters are bulky and unable to provide real-time monitoring of dose for space radiation. The complexity of space-flight design requires reliable, fault-tolerant equipment capable of providing real-time dose readings during a mission, which is not feasible with the existing thermo-luminescent dosimeter (TLD) technology, especially during extravehicular activities (EVA). Real ...

High-resolution scintillation crystals and crystal arrays are important components of current and future handheld and arrayed detectors (used for DOD/DTRA applications), and scintillation spectrometers (routinely used in high energy physics research, medical imaging, diffraction, homeland security, nuclear waste clean-up, nuclear treaty verification and safeguards, and geological exploration). Un ...

Monitoring space radiation and the dose received by astronauts is important, especially for future long-duration missions. Neutrons contribute a significant component to the total radiation dose during solar events. We propose to develop a rugged, compact, lightweight, non-hazardous CMOS-based detector technology for an existing neutron spectroscopic dosimeter system. The existing system utilizes ...

The goal of this work is to develop a novel Raman scattering spectrometer for advance standoff detection of IEDs and suicide bomber threats. When using the proposed instrument, we will obtain rapid, chemical-specific analysis at standoff distances of up to 30 m. This instrument will have significantly increased detection sensitivity, measurement accuracy and analysis rates compared to more conve ...

High spatial resolution, LIDAR images of underwater targets from air and submersed platforms are plagued by poor signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), arising from strong scattering in the turbid media of seawater. A hybrid system that combines the detection and coherent signal processing techniques of conventional RADAR with the optical propagation characteristics of LIDAR improves target detectability ...

New technology is needed for the nondestructive inspection (NDI) of defects in gas turbine engines. This is particularly true for components such as turbine blades with fretting fatigue defects that are difficult to detect and characterize with existing NDI equipment. The lack of detailed flaw detection and characterization raises safety concerns, hampers fleet readiness and negatively impacts the ...