Parasitic neutron bragg reflections from large imperfect single crystals

Abstract

A formula is given which allows to calculate the contribution of the total Bragg scattering from different ( hkl) planes to the neutron transmission through a large imperfect single crystals. The formula takes into account the crystal structure type, its mosaic spread value, the plane along which the crystal surface is cut along and its orientation with respect to the neutron beam direction. A computer program ISCANF-1 was developed to calculate the total parasitic scattering cross-section from different ( hkl) planes as well as the nuclear and diffuse scattering cross-sections. The ISCANF-1 program was applied to calculate the neutron attenuation through Cu and Zn single crystals, each of them cut along (002) planes. The calculated values of the neutron transmission through Cu and Zn crystals were compared with the measured ones in the wavelength range 0.21–0.47 nm and 0.04–0.52 nm respectively. The measured and calculated values were found to be in reasonable agreement within the statistical accuracy. The computer program ISCANF-1 was also applied to investigate the effect of parasitic Bragg scattering on the neutron filtering characteristics of both Zn and Cu single crystals as a function of their physical parameters.