Development of neutron reflector material brought about by nano-sized flowers; Intensify neutron beam caused by coherent scattering

Teshigawara, Makoto   ; Ikeda, Yujiro*; Muramatsu, Kazuo*; Sutani, Koichi*; Fukuzumi, Masafumi*; Noda, Yohei*; Koizumi, Satoshi*; Kawamura, Yuji*; Saruta, Koichi   ; Otake, Yoshie*

Science using neutrons in the nanometer (nm) wavelength region as probes is expanding into a wide range of fields, from basic research in materials and life science to industrial applications. Dramatic increase in the intensity of the beam source is required to drive such research. To increase the intensity of neutron beams, we have focused on coherent scattering caused by nano-sized particle aggregations. We focused on graphene, which is different from nanodiamond that has been vigorously researched and developed, and started to develop its nano-sized aggregates, which have high van der Waals force of more than one order of magnitude and stronger bonding force between carbons than nanodiamond, so that they can be easily formed into a lump shape and adapted to higher radiation fields. The graphene is expected to be formable into clumps and adaptable to higher radiation fields. By promoting chemical vapor deposition (CVD), we have established a technique to form nano-sized graphene (graphene flower) with a shape similar to a sunflower flower. In this talk, we report on the neutron scattering characteristics that contribute to the coherent scattering of the newly developed graphene flowers.