Abstract and subjects
Modern proton radiography (pRad), which was invented at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), is especially well suited for investigation of dense materials. When compared to x-radiography, the mean free path of protons is much longer resulting in near-optimum radiographic transmission. The proton radiography facility at LANL which utilizes the 800 MeV proton beam at the Los Alamos Neutron Sciences Center (LANSCE), is a user facility mainly serving the weapons community. The temporal structure of the beam coupled with high quantum efficiency multi-frame cameras has enabled the acquisition of up to 41 radiographic frames over the duration of dynamic processes typically lasting a few tens of microseconds. Sample results from the pRad facility at LANL are presented. The position resolution of proton radiography can be improved both by using higher energy proton beams and by using magnifying lenses. We present theoretical studies for both improvements.