A study on optical aberrations in parabolic neutron guides

It is widely believed that a neutron beam can be focused to a small spot using a parabolic guide, which will significantly improve the flux. However, researchers have also noted challenges for the neutron inhomogeneous phase space distribution in parabolic focusing guide systems. In this paper, the sources of most prominent optical aberrations, such as an inhomogeneous phase space distribution and irregular divergence distribution, are discussed, and an optimization solution is also proposed. We indicate that optimizing the parabolic guide geometrical configuration removes almost all of the aberrations and yields a considerable intensity gain factor.