This paper describes an overview of our recent discovery – clear demonstration that LiF crystals can be efficiently used as a high-performance neutron imaging detector based on optically stimulated luminescence of color centers generated by neutron irradiation. It is shown that the neutron images we have obtained are almost free from granular noise, have a spatial resolution of ${\sim}5.4~{\rm\mu}\text{m}$ and a linear response with a dynamic range of at least $10^{3}$. The high contrast and good sensitivity of LiF crystals allow us to distinguish two holes with less than 2% transmittance difference. We propose to use such detectors in areas where high spatial resolution with high image gradation resolution is needed, including diagnostics of different plasma sources such as laser and z-pinch produced plasmas.

Since Roentgen's discovery of X rays in the late 1800s the use of penetrating radiation to form images has become a part of our everyday life as well as providing a useful tool for the scientific study of processes that have been previously impossible to measure. This can include the study of processes that are too deeply embedded in opaque materials for direct observation, or that occur on a length or time scale smaller than otherwise can be easily measured. As technologies to generate penetrating radiation and quickly collect images have matured, new techniques have emerged to measure processes that have been hidden for many years. One example is advances in flash radiography using charged particles as radiographic probes, including proton radiography and electron radiography. Recently the successful commissioning of proton microscope systems has provided remarkable improvements in spatial resolution. These techniques are being implemented for applications with electron radiography. With the evolution of these new techniques comes the opportunity to choose the probe that provides the maximum information for the desired measurement. This paper describes these new imaging techniques, predicts the capabilities of high-energy electron radiography, and provides a guide for identifying the optimal probe for a wide range of measurements.

In the conservation of fragile fossil bone material, impregnation by solvent-borne consolidant is often required. Understanding the mode of penetration of consolidants into fossil bone is of crucial importance. It is governed by a variety of factors; neutron imaging is a powerful tool to monitor and visualise this penetration (non-destructively). The consolidation of a vertebrate fossil from the Maastrichtian of the southeast Netherlands was imaged at the High Flux Reactor facility at Petten, the Netherlands. The analysis shows current conservation practice to result in a sufficiently deep and isotropic penetration.