Time-Dependent Delayed Signatures from Energetic Photon Interrogations

Pulsed photonuclear interrogation environments generated by 8–24 MeV electron linac are rich with time-dependent, material-specific, radiation signatures. Nitrogen-based explosives and nuclear materials can be detected by exploiting these signatures in different delayed-time regions. Numerical and experimental results presented in this paper show the unique time and energy dependence of these signatures. It is shown that appropriate delayed-time windows are essential to acquire material-specific signatures in pulsed photonuclear assessment environments. These developments demonstrate that pulsed, high-energy, photon-inspection environments can be exploited for time-dependent, material-specific signatures through the proper operation of specialized detectors and detection methods.