Energy-selective neutron imaging by exploiting wavelength gradients of double crystal monochromators—Simulations and experiments

The potential of wavelength resolved neutron transmission experiments is well known. This paper is focused on the performance of the double crystal monochromator which is widely used at steady state neutron sources and compares simulation results based on neutron ray tracing with experimental results in order to provide a better understanding of the device. The influences of crystal mosacities on the neutron beam is reported for the utilised setup and the resulting wavelength gradients along one direction are determined. For the neutron imaging geometry applied, a wavelength gradient of about 0.005 Å/cm at the sample position was found. Moreover, a new neutron radiography technique for Bragg edge mapping in imaging experiments utilising a neutron wavelength gradient at the sample position was developed and is reported. Experiments and simulations are found to be in good agreement.