Insight into Neutron Focusing: the Out-of-Focus Condition

Published

October 1, 2013

Author(s)

Boualem Hammouda, David F. Mildner, A. Brulet, S. Desert

Abstract

A three-pronged approach is used to investigate neutron focusing for small-angle neutron scattering instruments. The three methods are analytical calculations, resolution measurements, and computer simulations. A source aperture containing a single small-size hole and a sample aperture containing multiple holes are used to produce multiple spots on the high-resolution neutron detector. Focusing elongates off-axis spots in the radial direction. The standard deviation for the size of each spot is estimated using these three approaches. Varying parameters include the neutron wavelength, the number of focusing lenses and the holes location on the sample aperture. Enough agreement for the standard deviation of the individual neutron beams was found between the calculations and the measurements to give confidence in this approach. Good agreement was found between the standard deviations obtained from calculations and simulations. Excellent agreement was found for the mean location of these individual spots. Recommendations are made for the optimization of neutron focusing.

Citation

Journal of Applied Crystallography

Volume

46

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

small-angle neutron scattering, neutron focussing, neutron lenses, mcstas, ray tracing

Citation

Hammouda, B. , Mildner, D. , Brulet, A. and Desert, S. (2013), Insight into Neutron Focusing: the Out-of-Focus Condition, Journal of Applied Crystallography, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=911976 (Accessed October 14, 2025)