Supervisor:

Zaky Ibrahim

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Scientific installation:

Theoretical simulation

Statement of the problem:

The advancement of nuclear technology and radiation detection is critically dependent on the development of advanced materials capable of precise manipulation of neutron beams. A significant scientific challenge lies in the inability of existing single-material systems to selectively filter specific neutron wavelengths, enhance weak neutron signals, or effectively detect radiation and gases with high sensitivity. This limitation stems from a fundamental gap in understanding how complex, multi-layered heterostructures interact with neutrons and other forms of radiation. While the properties of individual materials (dielectrics, polymers, ferromagnets, superconductors, paramagnets) are known, their synergistic behavior when combined into artificial superlattices is not sufficiently explored. The key problem is the lack of a predictive framework for designing such periodic structures to achieve desired optical effects, such as creating sharp reflection resonances (stop-bands) for specific neutron wavelengths or enhancing sensitivity through interfacial effects.
This project addresses this problem by aiming to systematically design and model novel superlattices composed of the aforementioned materials. The central scientific question is: How can we engineer the layer sequence, thickness, and material properties within a superlattice to control and enhance its response to neutron/gamma radiation and enable novel sensing applications? The project will utilize Polarized Neutron Reflectometry (PNR) theory or the Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) to computationally model the neutron scattering length density profile and predict the optical response of these proposed structures. The findings are expected to provide fundamental insights into neutron/gamma-matter interactions in complex layered systems and yield practical designs for next-generation devices in neutron/optics, sensing, and shielding.

Objective:
This project aims to design different superlattices comprising dielectric, polymers, ferromagnetic, superconductor and/or paramagnetic layers for achieving new developments in neutron filters, radiation detection, enhancing the neutron signal and/or hazardous greenhouse gas sensing field. The suggested devices can filter out a specific neutron wavelength from the reflected broad spectrum. Polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR), Transfer matrix method (TMM) will be used to study the response of proposed periodic structures to different radiation using MATLAB software. These findings will hold potential in the nuclear fields, including neutron waveguides, filters, sensing, and shielding.

Tasks:
1. Introduction to periodic and quasiperiodic structures and their effect on incident waves.
2. Designing various detector devices and structures.
3. Building MATLAB codes.
4. Writing the Report.