Plastically deformed Si-crystal wafers for neutron-monochromator elements

Plastically deformed Si-crystal wafers were characterized by monochromatic neutron diffraction. During the cylindrically curved deformation, a resolution-limit Bragg peak changes into a box-type angular profile in accordance with the bulk curvature, associated with an enhancement in the angle-integrated intensity (IθIθ). Stacking such wafers is efficient in amplifying IθIθ further. We propose an application to neutron-focusing monochromator (or analyzer) crystals in order to design a quite compact spectrometer.