Vourvopoulos G, Womble P C
Applied Physics Institute, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101, USA.
Talanta. 2001 May 10;54(3):459-68. doi: 10.1016/s0039-9140(00)00544-0.
Explosives, narcotics and other contraband material contain various chemical elements, such as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, etc. in quantities and ratios that differentiate them from each other and from other innocuous substances. Neutrons and gamma-rays have the ability to penetrate through various materials to large depths. They are able to interrogate, in a non-intrusive manner, volumes ranging from suitcases to Sea-Land containers. Pulsed fast/thermal neutron analysis (PFTNA) is a neutron-based technique which utilizes the (n,n'gamma), (n,pgamma), and (n,gamma) reactions to identify and quantify a large number of elements. The elements emit characteristic gamma-rays that are the 'fingerprints' of each isotope. This technique is being employed in a variety of applications: bulk coal analysis, contraband detection and detection of explosives.
爆炸物、麻醉品及其他违禁材料含有各种化学元素，如氢、碳、氮和氧等，其含量和比例使它们彼此之间以及与其他无害物质有所区别。中子和伽马射线能够穿透各种材料并深入到较大深度。它们能够以非侵入方式对从手提箱到海陆集装箱等不同体积的物体进行探测。脉冲快/热中子分析（PFTNA）是一种基于中子的技术，它利用（n,n'γ）、（n,pγ）和（n,γ）反应来识别和量化大量元素。这些元素会发射出特征伽马射线，这些射线就是每种同位素的“指纹”。该技术正应用于多种领域：散装煤分析、违禁品检测和爆炸物检测。
