Highly aligned pyrolytic graphite blades for neutron monochromatization

Abstract Highly aligned pyrolytic graphite blades for neutron monochromatization have been fabricated successfully from smaller commercial highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) crystals. These blades of a large coverage area, 136 mm wide × 2 mm high, are achieved with minimum increase of the mosaic over that of the original HOPG crystal. A specialized crystal cleavage device and soldering device are developed for the fabrication process. Furthermore, an optimized intermittent mode of the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique is employed to deposit indium on HOPG crystals. The devices and procedure reported here could be applied to the development of the focusing monochromators and analyzers in neutron scattering instruments using a sizable neutron beam.