Recent Applications of Scintillation and Semiconductor Sensors to the Detection of Contraband and Explosives

摘要

In the past few years, there has been an increasing need for new methods to detect and identify suspect materials in packages and containers used for transport and shipment of goods. Nuclear techniques are playing an important role in the design of such instruments and in this paper we discuss several new applications. While the methods for detecting nuclear radiation have become quite well established over the past few decades, it is interesting to see how some of the properties of these classical sensors are being improved and modified with new technology. In this short review, we review several novel applications for nuclear sensors and measurement techniques that are used in new security instrumentation designs.