10.5: Development of THz gyrotrons with pulse solenoids for detecting concealed radioactive materials

Nusinovich, Gregory S.; Granatstein, V.L.; Antonsen, Thomas M.; Pu, Ruifeng; Sinitsyn, O. V.; Rodgers, J.; Mohamed, Ali Bellou; Silverman, Joseph H.; Al-Sheikhly, Mohamad; Dimant, Y. S.

doi:10.1109/ivelec.2010.5503536

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Lastly, a new, recently proposed [35] application deserves mentioning. This is the use of THz-range gyrotrons for remote detection of concealed radioactive materials.…”

Section: Present and Potential Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terahertz gyrotrons

Nusinovich

2011

2011 International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves

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Gyrotrons are known as powerful sources of coherent electromagnetic radiation capable of mastering the frequency gap between microwave and infrared frequency regions. This talk will cover the following issues: physical principles of gyrotron operation, possibilities to master the THz frequency range with gyrotrons, limitations on magnetic fields available with superconducting and pulsed solenoids, problems with gyrotron operation at cyclotron harmonics. The talk will include an overview of THz gyrotron experiments and existing and possible applications. Special attention will be paid to a recently proposed method of using sub-THz gyrotrons for remote detection of concealed radioactive materials.

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“…Lastly, a new, recently proposed [35] application deserves mentioning. This is the use of THz-range gyrotrons for remote detection of concealed radioactive materials.…”

Section: Present and Potential Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terahertz gyrotrons

Nusinovich

2011

2011 International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves

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“…Recently, a new method of remote detection of concealed radioactive materials was proposed [1,2]. This method is based on focusing a high-power short wavelength radiation in a small volume of air where the wave electric field exceeds the breakdown threshold and, therefore, in the presence of free electrons an avalanche discharge can be initiated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Possible standoff detection of ionizing radiation using high-power THz electromagnetic waves

et al. 2012

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Recently, a new method of remote detection of concealed radioactive materials was proposed. This method is based on focusing high-power short wavelength electromagnetic radiation in a small volume where the wave electric field exceeds the breakdown threshold. In the presence of free electrons caused by ionizing radiation, in this volume an avalanche discharge can then be initiated. When the wavelength is short enough, the probability of having even one free electron in this small volume in the absence of additional sources of ionization is low. Hence, a high breakdown rate will indicate that in the vicinity of this volume there are some materials causing ionization of air. To prove this concept a 0.67 THz gyrotron delivering 200-300 kW power in 10 microsecond pulses is under development. This method of standoff detection of concealed sources of ionizing radiation requires a wide range of studies, viz., evaluation of possible range, THz power and pulse duration, production of free electrons in air by gamma rays penetrating through container walls, statistical delay time in initiation of the breakdown in the case of low electron density, temporal evolution of plasma structure in the breakdown and scattering of THz radiation from small plasma objects. Most of these issues are discussed in the paper.

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“…Range, resolution and power of THz systems for remote detection of concealed radioactive materials I. INTRODUCTION Just recently, a new method was proposed [1][2][3] for the remote detection of concealed radioactive materials. This method is based on focusing a high-power electromagnetic (EM) wave beam in a small volume of air where the wave electric field exceeds the breakdown threshold and, therefore, in the presence of free electrons an avalanche discharge can be initiated.…”

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confidence: 99%

Range, resolution and power of THz systems for remote detection of concealed radioactive materials

Nusinovich

Sprangle

Romero-Talamás

et al. 2011

Journal of Applied Physics

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This paper analyzes parameters required for realizing remote detection of a concealed source of ionizing radiation by observing the occurrence of breakdown in air by a focused wave beam. Production of free electrons and the free electron density in the absence/presence of additional sources of ionization are analyzed. The maximum electron density in the discharge and the time required for this density to return after the discharge back to its stationary level, are estimated. The optimal excess of the power density and the corresponding power level as the function of frequency are determined. It is shown that the optimal frequency of such systems ranges from 0.3 up to 0.8 THz. The paper also determines the range of such systems as the function of the source frequency and power and contains a brief analysis of available sources of microwave, millimeter-wave and THz radiation.

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10.5: Development of THz gyrotrons with pulse solenoids for detecting concealed radioactive materials

Cited by 9 publications

References 3 publications

Terahertz gyrotrons

Terahertz gyrotrons

Possible standoff detection of ionizing radiation using high-power THz electromagnetic waves

Range, resolution and power of THz systems for remote detection of concealed radioactive materials

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