Neutron focusing using capillary optics and its applications to elemental analysis
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899 (United States)
Capillary optics (Kumakhov lenses) have been characterized and tested at two cold neutron beam facilities at the NIST reactor: the Neutron Depth Profiling (NDP) and the Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) spectrometers. Lenses of both multifiber and monolithic types focus cold neutron beams from guides of cm transverse dimensions onto a sub-mm spot size with higher current densities at the expense of the angular resolution, which is acceptable for applications employing neutron absorption. These lenses can improve the sensitivity and detection limits for NDP and PGAA measurements on small samples, and enable sample scanning to study spatial non-uniformity or to perform compositional mapping. A summary of the neutron focusing effort is given, with examples of a multifiber lens with on-axis focusing, a bender-focuser with off-axis focusing, and a monolithic lens with a more compact size. Preliminary results and existing problems in applying these lenses to NDP and PGAA are presented, and current and future directions are discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 21208046
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 475, Issue 1; Conference: 15. international conference on the application of accelerators in research and industry, Denton, TX (United States), 4-7 Nov 1998; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.59218; (c) 1999 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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