Compressive sensing for nuclear security. Page: 3 of 31
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SAND2013-10506
Unlimited Release
Printed December 2013
Compressive Sensing for Nuclear
Security
Brian Gestner
Cyber-Physical Systems, 8136
Sandia National Laboratories
P.O. Box 5800
Livermore, California 94550
Abstract
Special nuclear material (SNM) detection has applications in nuclear material control, treaty
verification, and national security. The neutron and gamma-ray radiation signature of SNMs can
be indirectly observed in scintillator materials, which fluoresce when exposed to this radiation.
A photomultiplier tube (PMT) coupled to the scintillator material is often used to convert this
weak fluorescence to an electrical output signal. The fluorescence produced by a neutron
interaction event differs from that of a gamma-ray interaction event, leading to a slightly
different pulse in the PMT output signal. The ability to distinguish between these pulse types,
i.e., pulse shape discrimination (PSD), has enabled applications such as neutron spectroscopy,
neutron scatter cameras, and dual-mode neutron/gamma-ray imagers. In this research, we
explore the use of compressive sensing to guide the development of novel mixed-signal
hardware for PMT output signal acquisition. Effectively, we explore smart digitizers that extract
sufficient information for PSD while requiring a considerably lower sample rate than
conventional digitizers. Given that we determine the feasibility of realizing these designs in
custom low-power analog integrated circuits, this research enables the incorporation of SNM
detection into wireless sensor networks.3
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Gestner, Brian Joseph. Compressive sensing for nuclear security., report, December 1, 2013; Livermore, California. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc865520/m1/3/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.