Linear collimators are required to narrow the beam of particles in order to efficiently remove stray particles and thereby decrease the beam divergence. They are a very common tool in neutron research and find use in combination with many neutron research instruments.

PANApps has already gone through a great number collimator iterations and in the process has evaluated a broad spectrum of applicable materials. First tests were done with PLA (on the picture color blue) to obtain the know-how of how to reach required tolerances. Further tests took place with PETG and PA12CF (as seen in the photo to the bottom right). Finally we consolidated the experience and knowledge gathered and moved over to the print of our first prototypes with B4C filament.

In the video you can see how the first layers of a B4C collimator are printed. The wall thickness is 0.4mm. To achieve a better stability of the lamellae, 2D collimators are aimed at.