ABSTRACT
When talking of an ideal strain scanner, this conception presupposes a certain field of application. As such, I consider the investigation of stress fields with a spatial resolution of typically a few cubic millimeters. Neutron stress analysis has been used as well for the determination of phase specific stresses or grain interaction stresses which are spatially homogeneous over a length scale of several centimeters. I will not consider the specific requirements of measurements of such a kind, not least because such measurements are better done using pulsed neutrons. The remaining field of neutron stress analysis is still so broad that no instrument can be conceived as an ideal strain scanner unless it is very versatile. For instance, high resolution is, in general, imperative for the determination of strains in ceramic materials because these strains are usually quite small. On the other hand, high resolution is of little help for the investigation of macrostresses in martensitic steels or other materials showing large intrinsic linewidths. I will come back to these issues later on.
