We present the Core Imaging Library (CIL), an open-source Python framework for tomographic imaging with particular emphasis on reconstruction of challenging datasets. Conventional filtered back-projection reconstruction tends to be insufficient for highly noisy, incomplete, non-standard or multi-channel data arising for example in dynamic, spectral and in situ tomography. CIL provides an extensive modular optimization framework for prototyping reconstruction methods including sparsity and total variation regularization, as well as tools for loading, preprocessing and visualizing tomographic data. The capabilities of CIL are demonstrated on a synchrotron example dataset and three challenging cases spanning golden-ratio neutron tomography, cone-beam X-ray laminography and positron emission tomography. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Synergistic tomographic image reconstruction: part 2’.

The cold neutron imaging and diffraction instrument IMAT at the second target station of the pulsed neutron source ISIS is currently being commissioned and prepared for user operation. IMAT will enable white-beam neutron radiography and tomography. One of the benefits of operating on a pulsed source is to determine the neutron energy via a time of flight measurement, thus enabling energy-selective and energy-dispersive neutron imaging, for maximizing image contrasts between given materials and for mapping structure and microstructure properties. We survey the hardware and software components for data collection and image analysis on IMAT, and provide a step-by-step procedure for operating the instrument for energy-dispersive imaging using a two-phase metal test object as an example.

A combined neutron imaging and neutron diffraction facility, IMAT, is currently being built at the pulsed neutron spallation source ISIS in the U.K. A supermirror neutron guide is required to combine imaging and diffraction modes at the sample position in order to obtain suitable time of flight resolutions for energy selective imaging and diffraction experiments. IMAT will make use of a straight neutron guide and we consider here the optimization of the supermirror guide dimensions and characterisation of the resulting beam characteristics, including the homogeneity of the flux distribution in space and energy and the average and peak neutron fluxes. These investigations take into account some main design criteria: to maximise the neutron flux, to minimise geometrical artefacts in the open beam image at the sample position and to obtain a good energy resolution whilst retaining a large neutron bandwidth. All of these are desirable beam characteristics for the proposed imaging and diffraction analysis modes of IMAT.