CONFORMATIONAL PROBES & MOLECULAR PERCEPTION--PKC ALPHA

Not Available BIR proposes to investigate feasibility for significantly improving an existing detector product to meet ARL requirements of spatial resolution greater than 250 microns on objects up to 180 mm or larger in diameter using a medium energy 420 kV x-ray source with 0.8 mm focus. The concept is to use an array of scientific grade 1024x128 CCDs that are fiber optically coupled to a scintillator in a staggered over-under arrangement extenable indefinitely in width. The multi-row CCD allows data collection software to create virtual detectors with variable focus for maximum flexibility of scanner geometry catering to multiple sources and focus sizes on a single system. Sample overlap via software also maximizes the spatial resolution for the rotate-only scanning mode. The virtual detector aperture can also be varied by software to allow tradeoffs of resolution, contrast, and scan time. The concept will be demonstrated by constructing a two device prototype detector, writing the virtual detector data collection software, and measuring the performance of the detector using a 420 kV, 0.8 mm x-ray source. A Varian amorphous silicon flat panel detector will also be evaluated by collecting data with the same x-ray source and comparing it to the prototype line array detector performance. BENEFITS: Improved capability for CT and DR applications such as flaw detection, quality control, dimensioning, failure analysis, first article inspection, and reverse engineering.