Development Of An Imaging System For Neutron Remote Sensing

This thesis is concerned with the design, modelling and characterisation of a Charge- Coupled Device (CCD) camera imaging system and the prediction of the camera’s performance in applications with Micro-Channel Plate (MCP) optics. The development and optimisation of analogue CCD readout electronics are described and its extension to a fully digital CCD readout method with its dedicated analogue front-end processing stage is presented. The mechanical and the optical design of the camera are presented and a performance model of the camera system from scintillator to detector is expressed by means of a system gain model. A noise mathematical model of the analogue chain of the CCD readout electronics is developed and compared to Spice simulations. A shaping filter method is proposed and implemented to generate noise time series from a given noise power spectral density. The method is adopted to build a time domain simulation model of the CCD camera system. The model allows investigation of the impact that different noise sources have on the performance of CCD readout methods and to drive the design criteria of the system. Characterisation of the CCD camera system by means of photon transfer curve theory is presented. Calibration of the system for X-ray detection, followed by the derivation of a quantitative model and relative comparison with real measurements in terms of scintillator light yields are presented. The resolution of the system is quantified by means of Modulation Transfer Function (MTF). A model of the performance of MCP optics is discussed and specific performance parameters such as gain and surface brightness are presented. An extension of their use for focusing neutrons is considered and the development of a neutron telescope concept using MCP optics for investigation of hydrogen distribution on a planetary surface at higher resolution that can be achieved with current instruments is presented.