Laser-plasma based source 3D Tomography for cargo inspection

Within the field of security, Customs and Border inspection have not had breakthrough technological developments in the last 20-years, since the introduction of X-ray screening.

The limits of these current technologies are accentuated by the increasing diversity and novelty in trafficking materials, tools and methods.

These limitations combined with the growing needs of inspection and control call for a disruptive innovative solution.Wanting to move a step up from the existing planar scanning methods with limited material identification results, several studies have identified potential solutions focused on:-High energy 3D X-ray tomography-Neutron interrogation/photofission-Nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRR)While these show good results and performances, they also have several important drawbacks, which limits their possible uses.

Moreover, these solutions do not have common technological bricks meaning they can only lead to separate disposals.The proposed MULTISCAN3D investigates a new all-in-one system whose purpose is to become simultaneously a user-friendly, flexible, relocatable solution offering high-quality information for:-Fast high energy 3D X-rays tomography (as first line)-Neutron interrogation/photofission (as second line)-Narrow gamma ray beam based NRR (as second line)MULTISCAN3D will start by investigating and defining needs and requirements, in a technologically-neutral way, with Europe’s most prominent Customs Authorities which will be translated to technical specifications.

The main body of the research will be focused on three parts, following which, lab validations and real-environment demonstration will be carried out.

These three work areas are:-Laser-plasma based accelerators as X-ray sources-3D reconstruction for multi-view configurations and data processing-Detectors and source monitoringAt the same time complementary techniques with chemical and SNM identification capabilities will be investigated.