The detection of nitrogen using nuclear resonance absorption of mono-energetic gamma rays

A new vacuum-insulated tandem accelerator capable of producing a 5-mA proton beam with energy up to 2 MeV was used to produce a mono-energetic beam of 9.17-MeV gamma rays from the resonant production reaction, 13C(p,γ)14N, at 1.76 MeV. A graphite target enriched with 13C capable of withstanding the proton beam power was designed and fabricated. The 9.17-MeV gamma rays were subsequently resonantly absorbed in 14N via the inverse reaction, 14N(γ,p)13C. The data acquisition system to measure the resonance absorption in nitrogen includes a BGO detector and a goniometer and collimator assembly that rotate around the axis produced by the intersection of the proton beam and the production target. The accuracy of rotation of the detector around the target is approximately 0.1°. The results of the resonance gamma ray absorption measurements are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the method to sensitively and selectively detect high concentrations of nitrogen, comparable to those found in most explosives.