Abstract
The neutron, discovered in 1932 by James Chadwick, is a Fermion with no net electrostatic charge and a mass slightly higher than that of a proton. Owing to some of unique properties, various neutrons-based imaging and non-imaging techniques have been developed and are used extensively in various research applications. In this chapter, we discuss some of the basic properties of the neutron and classify the neutrons as per their energies. A brief discussion about the neutron interaction with matter in terms of scattering cross sections has also been presented. The concept of neutron imaging and its applications for characterization and non-destructive evaluation of wide variety of materials have been discussed to highlight the importance of these techniques. We also discuss a comparison of neutron with the X-rays.
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Kashyap, Y.S. (2022). Introduction to Neutron Physics. In: Aswal, D.K., Sarkar, P.S., Kashyap, Y.S. (eds) Neutron Imaging. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6273-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6273-7_1
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