Fluorinated nanodiamonds as unique neutron reflector
Résumé
Fluorinated nanodiamonds are considered for the fabrication of diffusive slow-neutron reflectors of a new kind. Hard fluorination of nanodiamonds drastically reduces the neutron absorption, thus providing an unprecedented albedo for the reflection of slow neutrons, bridging the so-called reflectivity gap in the neutron spectrum. The resulting reflectors can dramatically improve the performance of neutron sources, the efficiency of neutron delivery, and thus fluxes at neutron instruments. They open the way to the design of a new generation of neutron sources and experiments.