Identification of Elemental Composition of the Venus Surface using Active 14-MeV Neutron Source and Gamma Ray Spectrometer

Nuclear instrumentations based on neutron and gamma-ray spectroscopy methods were often used by different planetary missions to derive the bulk elemental abundances of surface materials. Here, we propose an instrument concept that consists of an artificially pulsed (3 μs pulse width at 10 Hz) 14 MeV neutron generator (PNG) combined with a gamma ray spectrometer (GRS). The 14 MeV neutrons will interact with the surface materials and generate gamma rays, characteristic of specific elements, whose energy spectrum will be measured by GRS. These characteristic gamma rays are produced mainly through 3 different neutron interaction mechanisms: capture, inelastic, and activation reactions. Each reaction type has a different neutron energy dependency and different time scale for gamma ray production and transport. Certain elements are more easily identified through one reaction type over the others. Thus, careful analysis of the gamma ray spectra during and after the neutron pulse provides a comprehensive understanding of the surface elemental composition. In this paper, we use a well-tested neutron/gamma transport code, called Monte Carlo N-Particles (MCNP), to investigate the measurement capability of a PNG-GRS detection system through the neutron activation reactions: short half-life (e.g., a few minute or less) radioactive products using the time window in-between individual pulses and long half-life (e.g., a few hours) radioactive products using the time window after the pulse. An activation analysis was performed for a representative soil composition of Venus with a notional operational scenario (i.e., 1 hour pulsing) of PNG and GRS to demonstrate potential measurement capability for a future Venus lander mission. The analysis shows that the proposed instrument concept can identify a few geologically important elements at Venus with sufficient accuracy through the aforementioned activation modes. Specifically, Si, A, Fe, Na, Mg could be measured within 10% accuracy or better. Although not included in the current simulation, the proposed instrument would also be able to measure naturally occurring radionuclide Th, U, and K.