An imaging-plate detector for small-angle neutron scattering

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements have been performed on longflight-path pinhole-collimation SANS instruments using, as a two-dimensional position-sensitive detector, both a neutron imaging plate, incorporating gadolinium, and a two-step transfer method, with dysprosium foil as the image transfer medium. The reduced pixel size of the imaging plates provides definite advantages over a conventional position-sensitive gas proportional counter in certain specific situations, namely when limited space necessitates a short sample-to-detector distance, when only small samples (comparable in size to the detector pixels) are available, or when used in conjunction with focusing beam optics.