Land mine detection with neutron back scattering imaging using a neutron generator

Abstract

The neutron back scattering technique may be used to search for low-metallic land mines. An advantage of this technique is the speed of detection: the scanning speed may be made comparable to that of a metal detector. The method is sensitive to soil moisture. A limitation of the method is therefore that the soil must be sufficiently dry. The neutrons are produced with a pulsed neutron generator. An image of the back scattered thermal neutron radiation is obtained with a two dimensional position sensitive detector. Getting optimal settings for the detector system is described. The mine detection time as function of the neutron pulse parameters is investigated. Results with various dummy mines are presented. © 2006 IEEE.