A new transmission based monochromator for energy-selective neutron imaging at the ICON beamline

A new type of monochromator has been developed for energy-selective neutron imaging at continuous sources. It combines the use of a mechanical neutron velocity selector with pyrolytic graphite crystals of different mosaicity. The beam can be monochromatized to similar levels as a standard double crystal monochromator. It can flexibly produce different desired spectral shapes, even an asymmetric one. Intrinsically, no higher order contamination of the spectrum is present. Working with the transmitted beam, the beam divergence (and thus the spatial resolution) is uncompromised. The device has been calibrated, characterized and its performance demonstrated with the measurement of Bragg edges for iron and lead, resolving them more sharply than if solely a mechanical velocity selector was used.