The significance of multiple scattering in the interpretation of small-angle neutron scattering experiments

The multiple scattering of neutrons in small-angle neutron scattering experiments has been studied using the technique of Monte Carlo simulation. As a test of the approach investigations have been performed on strongly scattering samples of a system of monodisperse spheres in vacuo: the results are in excellent agreement with semianalytic calculations by Schelten & Schmatz [J. Appl. Cryst. (1980), 13, 385-390]. The scattering by systems of monodisperse spheres embedded in a medium has also been studied: the standard procedure for subtraction of the scattering by the medium slightly oversubtracts the multiple scattering due to the medium alone. The wavelength dependence of the single and multiple scattering in light water has been estimated and compared with experimental measurements by groups at the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France.