1. ILL Grenoble right, with ESRF left1

2. Eberhard Lehmann, one of the fathers of neutron imaging... once said:
"Alan Hewat may know something about Neutron Diffraction -
…but he knows nothing about Neutron Imaging" 2

3. Thesis on Lattice Dynamics High Flux Australian Reactor
It’s True !
Thesis on Lattice Dynamics
HIFAR in 1958
High Flux Australian Reactor
Alan Hewat in 1961
A student at HIFAR 3

4. 2005 - A 16 CCD Neutron Laue Camera
ICNS Sydney, Physica B (2006) 385–386 pp 979–984
CYCLOPS – a reciprocal-space explorer
Bachir Ouladdiaf, John Archer, John Allibon, Philippe Decarpentrie, Marie-Helene Lemee-Cailleau, Juan Rodrıguez, Alan Hewat, Scott York, Daniel Brau and Garry J. McIntyre
J. Appl. Cryst. (2011) 44, 392–397
OPAL in 2006
High Flux Australian Reactor
Alan Hewat in 2005
At ICNS Sydney
Still looks the same…
cf 4-CCD camera at FRM-2 (Schillinger)
FALCON at HZB-Berlin (Raventos PSI) 4

5. CYCLOPS – 16 CCD reciprocal-space explorer
Physica B (2006) 385–386 and J. Appl. Cryst. (2011) 44, 392–397

6. CYCLOPS – 16 CCD reciprocal-space explorer
John Allibon, Bachir Ouladdiaf and Silvia Capelli

7. 2007 – simple CCD cameras for sample alignment at ILL
2007 Alan Hewat and Peter Falus
ILL Annual Report - a small neutron CCD camera 7

8. 2018 – simple CCD & CMOS cameras for sample alignment
Sony CCD
Sony CMOS
We sold such cameras to many labs. including PSI Switzerland 8

9. Hundreds of small NeutronOptics cameras in the world
But what about neutron IMAGING? 9

10. In 2008 – I was impressed by EMCCD publicity
A slow learner…
In 2008 – I was impressed by EMCCD publicity
EMCCD low-light conditions vs 1.3 Megapixel Interline CCD 10

11. NeutronOptics EMCCD Laue-camera (2007)
A slow learner…
NeutronOptics EMCCD Laue-camera (2007)
Disappointed 11

12. Electron-Multiplying CCD (EMCCD), but…
A slow learner…
Electron-Multiplying CCD (EMCCD), but…
• The scintillator already provides ~160,000 photons for 1 neutron
• Further multiplication reduces Dynamic Range
Disappointed that publicity wasn’t so relevant for neutrons
• EMCCD is good for high frame rates with low light levels
• But also has to compete with newer sCMOS detectors 12

13. A slow learner… 5 years later
In 2012 – I was impressed by sCMOS publicity
sCMOS low-light conditions vs 1.4 Megapixel Interline CCD 13

14. Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) Very low read noise, high frame rates, but…
A slow learner…
Scientific CMOS (sCMOS)
Very low read noise, high frame rates, but…
Publicity applies to fast imaging with light (10 msec exposures)
Only read noise is shown, thermal noise can be more important
Disappointed that publicity wasn’t so relevant for neutrons
• sCMOS is good if you need high frame rates
• But again, the dynamic range is smaller than with a CCD 14

15. …we’re asked to quote to precise specifications…15

16. Specifications copied from publicity for iKon-L 93616

17. Ikon-L936 (e2V CCD42-40) is a good camera, BUT…
Not really true
Specifications are NOT all obtained SIMULTANEOUSLY 17

18. From the detailed Ikon-L936 data sheet
Read Noise is 31.5 e- at a frame rate of 0.95 fps (5 MHz)
or 70.3 e- at "high capacity" output
Read Noise is 2.9 e- only at a frame rate of 0.01 fps (50 kHz)
5 MHz output is called "Visualisation Mode“ – usually 3 MHz
The iKon-L 936 is a "slow scan" CCD camera like the cameras used by NeutronOptics.
But is it better ? 18

19. A modest Sony 1” CCD can cover much of neutron imaging
…for a more modest price 19

20. Sony 1” Read noise and Dark Current is lower
Well depth = number of electrons stored / pixel
(large because of large pixels)
Well depth is necessary for high dynamic range Dynamic range = Well Depth / Total Noise
Well depth reduces electron overflow (blooming)
This Full Frame CCD has no “anti-blooming” structure
Importance of Well Depth exaggerated ? cf sCMOS
Usually you can adjust exposure time 20

21. A modest Sony 1” CCD can cover much of neutron imaging
250x200 Neutron & X-ray camera Macro camera Laue Camera
220mm
145mm
80mm
85mm
100
120 70
These instruments use this 1” CCD, PSI/RC-TriTec scintillators (Grünzweig, Walfort) 21

22. 1.3MW Triga reactor at the Thai Institute for Nuclear Technology (10s)
Dr. Khaweerat Sasiphan, TINT 22

23. Golden Engineering 350 kVp portable pulsed x-ray generator
Hard x-ray imaging of thick objects - up to 45 mm steel
50 x 50 nano-second pulses
Prof. Jeffrey King, Colorado School of Mines
NeutronOptics camera with x-ray scintillator for imaging of objects up to 45 mm steel 23

24. 100kW Triga reactor neutron image from our 1” CCD camera
Prof. Robert Zboray PSU 24

25. X-ray image from our 1” CCD camera
Prof. Robert Zboray PSU 25

26. Macro-camera for very high resolution
Inspired by Kardjilov’s macro neutron camera
See also the Neutron Microscope at PSI (Trtik)
Fibre-optics taper neutron imaging at PSI (Morgano)
Camera uses commercial components
1:1 Field-Of-View equal to size of CCD (or larger)
Resolution limited only by scintillator and beam
Lens-coupled is more flexible but has lower efficiency 26

27. Imaging, but also Diffraction 1” CCD Laue diffraction camera
Replaces Image-Plate and Polaroid Film Laue cameras
Efficiency is similar, but immediate read-out of pattern
Requires very high efficiency and low noise for 300s 27

28. X-ray backscattering from single 1” CCD Laue camera
Si - Dean Hudek (Brown University) Sm2Fe17 - W. Donner (TU Darmstad)
These images obtained in only 2-3 minutes with an ordinary lab. X-ray generator 28

29. Diffraction and Imaging with Neutrons and X-rays
Promote the wider use of Neutron & X-ray Imaging…
… by providing competitive yet inexpensive cameras
Thank you for your attention… 29