Intense beams of cold neutrons are produced at several DOE facilities and are used by researchers to study the microscopic structure of materials. Energetic neutrons are produced by a high energy proton beam impacting a target. The fast neutrons are converted to the desired cold neutrons passing through a cryogenic moderator vessel, presently filled with dense cold hydrogen gas. Moderators made from solid methane have demonstrated superior performance to the hydrogen moderators but cannot be implemented on high power sources such as the SNS due to the difficulty of removing heat from the solid blocks of methane. Cryogenic Applications F, Inc has developed the methane pellet formation and transport technologies needed to produce a hydrogen cooled solid methane pellet moderator, potentially capable of being used in a high power spallation neutron facility. Such a methane pellet moderator could double the brightness of the neutron beam. Prior to this work a methane pellet moderator had not been produced or studied. The Indiana University LENS facility is a small pulsed neutron source used in part to study and develop cold neutron moderators. In this project cold neutrons were produced in a solid methane pellet moderator and analyzed with the LENS facility diagnostics. The results indicated that the neutron beam formed by the pellet moderator was similar to that of a solid methane block moderator.

This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the fundamental theory and applications of slow-neutron scattering.