SANS principle Small Angle Neutron Scattering principles

Neutron scattering is the process of collision between neutrons emitted by a source and a target which is the studied sample.
When the scattering angles of these collisions are very small, the emitted neutrons are very close to the axis of the emerging beam. This process is thus referred to as Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS)

In the animation below the sample is made up of identically sized spheres in suspension in a homogeneous medium. The influence on the measured pattern of the particle size, the sample to detector distance and the neutron wavelength is demonstrated.