Neutron source reconstruction using a generalized expectation-maximization algorithm on one-dimensional neutron images from the Z facility

S A Ricketts; M A Mangan; P Volegov; D N Fittinghoff; W E Lewis; O M Mannion; J E Morel; M L Adams; D J Ampleford

doi:10.1063/5.0176152

Neutron source reconstruction using a generalized expectation-maximization algorithm on one-dimensional neutron images from the Z facility

Rev Sci Instrum. 2024 Mar 1;95(3):033501. doi: 10.1063/5.0176152.

Authors

S A Ricketts^{1

2}, M A Mangan¹, P Volegov³, D N Fittinghoff⁴, W E Lewis¹, O M Mannion¹, J E Morel², M L Adams², D J Ampleford¹

Affiliations

¹ Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185, USA.
² Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77841, USA.
³ Los Alamos National Laboratory (Retired), Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544, USA.
⁴ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.

PMID: 38436450
DOI: 10.1063/5.0176152

Abstract

Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion experiments have been performed at the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories. These experiments use deuterium fuel, which produces 2.45 MeV neutrons on reaching thermonuclear conditions. To study the spatial structure of neutron production, the one-dimensional imager of neutrons diagnostic was fielded to record axial resolved neutron images. In this diagnostic, neutrons passing through a rolled edge aperture form an image on a CR-39-based solid state nuclear track detector. Here, we present a modified generalized expectation-maximization algorithm to reconstruct an axial neutron emission profile of the stagnated fusion plasma. We validate the approach by comparing the reconstructed neutron emission profile to an x-ray emission profile provided by a time-integrated pinhole camera.