Monte Carlo simulations of neutron-scattering instruments using McStas

Monte Carlo simulations have become an essential tool for improving the performance of neutron-scattering instruments, since the level of sophistication in the design of instruments is defeating purely analytical methods. The program McStas, being developed at Rise National Laboratory, includes an extension language that makes it easy to adapt it to the particular requirements of individual instruments, and thus provides a powerful and flexible tool for constructing such simulations. McStas has been successfully applied in such areas as neutron guide design, flux optimization, non-Gaussian resolution functions of triple-axis spectrometers, and time-focusing in time-of-flight instruments. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.