In this work the concept of a novel slow neutron collimator and the way to operate it are presented. The idea is based on the possibility to decouple the device's field-of-view from its collimation power. A multi-channel geometry is proposed consisting of a chess-board structure where highly neutron-absorbing channels are alternated to air channels. A borated polymer was purposely developed to produce the attenuating components in the form of square-sectioned long rods. A scalable structure consisting of multiple collimation sectors can be arranged. The geometrical parameter L/D, corresponding to the ratio between the length of a channel and its width, defines the collimation power. Several sectors can be arranged one after the other to reach relevant collimation powers. Each sector, 100 mm long, is composed by several channels with D = 2.5 mm corresponding to an L/D coefficient of 40. The target field of view is 5050 mm². This novel collimator, developed inside the INFN-ANET collaboration, due to its intrinsic compactness, will be of great importance to enhance the neutron imaging capability of small to medium-size neutron sources.

在这项工作中，提出了一种新型慢中子准直器的概念及其操作方法。这个想法是基于将设备的视场与其准直能力分离的可能性。提出了一种多通道几何结构，由棋盘结构组成，其中高度吸收中子的通道与空气通道交替。特意开发了一种硼酸聚合物以生产方形截面长棒形式的衰减组件。可以布置由多个准直扇区组成的可扩展结构。几何参数 L/D 对应于通道长度与其宽度之间的比率，定义了准直功率。几个扇区可以一个接一个地排列，以达到相关的准直度数。每个扇区长 100 mm，由多个通道组成，D = 2。² . 这种由 INFN-ANET 合作开发的新型准直器，由于其固有的紧凑性，对于增强中小型中子源的中子成像能力具有重要意义。