Editing Monochromator (section)

==Uses==
[[Image:NeutronMonochromatorBNL.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Neutron monochromator for the [[ECHIDNA - High Resolution Powder Diffractometer|ECHIDNA]] powder diffractometer at [[Open-pool Australian lightwater reactor|OPAL]] in Australia. It is made by slabs of [113] oriented Germanium crystals which are inclined towards each other in order to focus down the Bragg reflected beam.]]
A device that can produce monochromatic light has many uses in science and in optics because many optical characteristics of a material are dependent on wavelength. Although there are a number of useful ways to select a narrow band of wavelengths (which, in the visible range, is perceived as a pure color), there are not as many other ways to easily select any wavelength band from a wide range. See [[#Applications|below]] for a discussion of some of the uses of monochromators.

In hard [[X-ray]] and [[neutron radiation|neutron]] optics, [[crystal monochromator]]s are used to define wave conditions on the instruments.