This study entailed the successful deployment of a novel neutron interferometer that utilizes multilayer mirrors. The apparatus facilitates a precise evaluation of the wavelength dependence of interference fringes utilizing a pulsed neutron source. Our interferometer achieved an impressive precision of 0.02 rad within a 20-min recording time. Compared to systems using silicon crystals, the measurement sensitivity was maintained even when using a simplified disturbance suppressor. By segregating beam paths entirely, we achieved successful measurements of neutron-nuclear scattering lengths across various samples. The values measured for Si, Al, and Ti were in agreement with those found in the literature, while V showed a disparity of 45%. This discrepancy may be attributable to impurities encountered in previous investigations. The accuracy of measurements can be enhanced further by mitigating systematic uncertainties that are associated with neutron wavelength, sample impurity, and thickness. This novel neutron interferometer enables us to measure fundamental parameters, such as the neutron-nuclear scattering length of materials, with a precision that surpasses that of conventional interferometers.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.023402 | DOI Listing |
J Appl Crystallogr
January 2024
NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA.
Hierarchical structures and heterogeneous materials are found in many natural and engineered systems including additive manufacturing, alternative energy, biology and polymer science. Though the structure-function relationship is important for developing more advanced materials, structural characterization over broad length scales often requires multiple complementary measurements. Neutron far-field interferometry aims to enable multi-scale characterization by combining the best of neutron imaging with small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) via dark-field imaging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
November 2024
Microworks GmbH, Schnetzlerstr. 9, Karlsruhe, 76137, Germany.
X-ray grating interferometry allows for the simultaneous acquisition of attenuation, differential-phase contrast, and dark-field images, resulting from X-ray attenuation, refraction, and small-angle scattering, respectively. The modulated phase grating (MPG) interferometer is a recently developed grating interferometry system capable of generating a directly resolvable interference pattern using a relatively large period grating envelope function that is sampled at a pitch that is small enough that X-ray spatial coherence can be achieved by using a microfocus X-ray source or G0 grating. We present the theory of the MPG interferometry system for a 2-dimensional staggered grating, derived using Fourier optics, and we compare the theoretical predictions with experiments we have performed with a microfocus X-ray system at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
October 2024
Atominstitut, TU Wien, Stadionallee 2, 1020, Vienna, Austria.
The statistical properties of the detection events constituting the interference fringes at the output of an interferometer are well-known. Nevertheless, there is still no unified view of what is happening to a quantum system inside an interferometer. Strong measurements of path operators destroy the interference effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
April 2024
Leonard E. Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology, and Astrophysics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201.
Sci Rep
March 2024
Information Technology Laboratory, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USA.
Neutron interferometry uniquely combines neutron imaging and scattering methods to enable characterization of multiple length scales from 1 nm to 10 µm. However, building, operating, and using such neutron imaging instruments poses constraints on the acquisition time and on the number of measured images per sample. Experiment time-constraints yield small quantities of measured images that are insufficient for automating image analyses using supervised artificial intelligence (AI) models.
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