A New Cold Neutron Imaging Instrument at NIST

The NIST neutron imaging program will build a new imaging instrument in the NCNR guide hall at the end of the neutron guide NG-6, beginning operation in summer of 2015. The NG-6 guide has a spectrum that is strongly peaked at a neutron wavelength of 0.5 nm, with a fluence rate of 2 x 10(9) cm(-2) s(-1) before a bismuth filter that is cooled by liquid nitrogen. The instrument will be developed in a phased manner and with an emphasis on maintaining a flexible space to conduct experiments and test new instrument concepts. In the initial phase of the instrument, the available space will permit a flight path of about 9 m, and will provide a platform for standard neutron radiography and tomography, wavelength selective imaging with a double crystal monochromator, and phase imaging based on a Talbot-Lau interferometer. The novel feature of the instrument will be the incorporation of Wolter optics to create a neutron microscope. Initially, prototype optics will be used in the microscope configuration to assess optic characteristics and image acquisition techniques. In the final form, the microscope will enable users to acquire images with similar to 10 mu m resolution 10-100x faster than current practice, and with a 10x magnifying optic to acquire images with similar to 1 mu m spatial resolution with image acquisition time similar to that for current images with similar to 10 mu m resolution. Published by Elsevier B.V.