Characterization methods for neutron channeling in planar waveguides

摘要

Neutron planar waveguides produce a narrow neutron beam of submicron width which can be used to scan local microstructures with high spatial resolution. The important parameter of a planar waveguide is the distance over which the neutron wave density decays exponentially during the neutron channeling inside a guiding layer. We review various ways to experimentally characterize neutron channeling lengths. Experimental results are presented and advantages and drawbacks of the different methods are discussed.