The proposed work is to fabricate a novel fast-neutron imaging camera for localizing and reconstructing, in three dimensions, the source of energetic neutron emissions within a deuterium-deuterium (D-D) fusion reaction vessel by determining the neutron tracks back to the source. This detection system would be universal for D-D neutron generation in plasmas (or target based) in any form of fast-neutron reactor. Our neutron camera relies on a novel 3D reconstruction algorithm that leverages physics-based machine learning to reconstruct neutron traces from just a handful of scintillation photons in extremely photon-starved settings. The use of such a detection system would not only help other groups working with deuterium-deuterium or deuterium-tritium reactions for the study of neutron scattering and plasma diagnostics, but also more broadly for neutron scattering and neutron radiography with a wide range of applications from medical imaging to border security.

Given the interdisciplinary flavor of the research project spanning nuclear physics, optics and computer science, they will recruit a diverse pool of graduate and undergraduate students and train and mentor the next generation of fusion workforce. The opportunity to meet and interact with our national lab colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory will benefit the students in finding internship opportunities and jobs after graduation.