Modeling neutron guides using Monte Carlo simulations

Four neutron guide geometries, straight, converging, diverging and curved, were characterized using Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulations. The main areas of interest are the transmission of the guides at various neutron energies and the intrinsic time-of-flight (TOF) peak broadening. Use of a delta-function time pulse from a uniform Lambert neutron source allows one to quantitatively simulate the effect of guides' geometry on the TOF peak broadening. With a converging guide, the intensity and the beam divergence increases while the TOF peak width decreases compared with that of a straight guide. By contrast, use of a diverging guide decreases the intensity and the beam divergence, and broadens the width (in TOF) of the transmitted neutron pulse. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.