The Plasma and Ion Source Technology Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been engaging in the development of high yield compact neutron generators for the last ten years. Because neutrons in these generators are formed by using either D-D, T-T or D-T fusion reaction, one can produce either mono-energetic (2.4 MeV or 14 MeV) or white neutrons. All the neutron generators being developed by our group utilize 13.5 MHz RF induction discharge to produce a pure deuterium or a mixture of deuterium-tritium plasma. As a result, ion beams with high current density and almost pure atomic ions can be extracted from the plasma source. The ion beams are accelerated to {approx}100 keV and neutrons are produced when the beams impinge on a titanium target. Neutron generators with different configurations and sizes have been designed and tested at LBNL. Their applications include neutron activation analysis, oil-well logging, boron neutron capture therapy, brachytherapy, cargo and luggage screening. A novel small point neutron source has recently been developed for radiography application. The source size can be 2 mm or less, making it possible to examine objects with sharper images. The performance of these neutron generators will be described in this paper.

The revolution in nanoscale science and technology requires instrumentation for observation and metrology - we must be able to see and measure what we build. Because nano-devices operate on the level of a few molecules, or even a few atoms, accurate atomic-scale imaging is called for. High-resolution aberration-corrected electron microscopes (both TEM and STEM) can provide valuable measurements at the sub-Angstrom level. Over the next decade, extension of TEM and STEM resolutions to half-Angstrom levels by next-generation aberration-corrected electron microscopes will advance the capabilities of these essential tools for atomic-scale structural characterization. Because improvements in resolution allow for separation of atom columns in many more projection directions, these microscopes will provide much improved three-dimensional characterization of the shape and internal structure of nanodevices and catalyst nanoparticles (perhaps even true 3-D imaging), and hence provide essential feedback in the nano-theory/construction/measurement loop.