Proton Radiography Images Implosion

A demonstration at the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Neutron Science Center in Los Alamos, N.M., has left researchers confident of the application of proton radiography in the hydrodynamic analysis of nuclear weapons components. Phil Goldstone, director of experimental programs at the facility, said the technology would be used alongside the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility, which uses x-rays to study the fluidlike behavior of imploding solids.

The team fired a 60-ns pulse of protons from the facility's 800 million-eV accelerator at a target of high explosives and aluminum. Subsequent bursts probed the sample, producing a 100-µs-long series of images with a resolution better than 500 µm.