Divergence of neutron microbeams from planar waveguides

Abstract Neutron planar waveguides are focusing devices generating a narrow neutron beam of submicron width. Such a neutron microbeam can be used for the investigation of local microstructures with high spatial resolution. The essential parameter of the microbeam is its angular width. The main contribution to the microbeam angular divergence is Fraunhofer diffraction on a narrow slit. We review and discuss various ways to characterize the angular divergence of the neutron microbeam using time-of-flight and fixed wavelength reflectometers.