Achromatic Non-Interferometric Single Grating Neutron Dark-Field Imaging

Ströbl, Markus; Valsecchi, Jacopo; Harti, Ralph P.; Trtik, Pavel; Kaestner, Anders; Gruenzweig, Christian; Polatidis, Efthymios; Čapek, Jan

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-55558-0

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(94 reference statements)

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“…As the distance increases, the visibility decreases due to the blurring effect caused by the finite beam collimation. However, only the initial slope follows the expected blurring effect according to pinhole imaging [10], and as the distance increases, the visibility starts to rise again reaching a second relative maximum. In this regime, an inverse pattern of the original grating pattern with the same period is observed (see Figure 2b).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…In contrast, a non-interferometric single grating (SG) approach for neutron dark-field imaging was recently demonstrated [10], which simplifies the instrumentation requirements. For this, only single-shot exposures of an absorption grating with and without the sample in the beam are required, and complex alignment procedures and optimization for a single wavelength are eliminated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The instrumental autocorrelation length probed is related to the scattering vector amplitude, analogous to the spin echo length in a spin echo SANS experiment, and its details are described in [7]. Its value determines the length scales accessible by the technique, which today lies in the range from a few tens of nanometers to about ten micrometers [10,[12][13][14][15][16]. The probed autocorrelation length ξ is defined as ξ = L s λ/p [7] and increases linearly with the wavelength λ, the distance L s between the sample and the detector, and the reciprocal of the period p of the grating.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cold and Thermal Neutron Single Grating Dark-Field Imaging Extended to an Inverse Pattern Regime

et al. 2022

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Neutron dark-field imaging is a powerful tool for the spatially resolved characterization of microstructural features of materials and components. Recently, a novel achromatic technique based on a single absorption grating for the concurrent measurement of attenuation, dark-field and differential phase contrast was introduced. However, the range of measurable length scales of the technique in quantitative dark-field measurements appeared limited to some 10–100 nanometers, due to the relatively high spatial resolution requirement to detect the projected beam modulation. Here, we show how using grating–detector distances beyond the resolution limit for a given collimation produces a sequence of inverse and regular projection patterns and, thus, leads to a significant extension of the range of accessible length scales probed by dark-field imaging. In addition, we show that this concept can also be applied to 2D grating structures, which will enable concurrent three-fold directional dark-field measurements at a wide range of length scales. The approach is demonstrated with measurements on an electrical steel sheet sample, which confirm the validity of combining the results from the regular and inverse grating patterns.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cold and Thermal Neutron Single Grating Dark-Field Imaging Extended to an Inverse Pattern Regime

et al. 2022

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“…A far-field grating interferometer 17 – 20 and single absorbing grating 21 that can alter ACL based on the period of the moiré pattern have been studied by directly reading the pattern using such detectors without using analyzer gratings, which achieves an ACL range from tens of nanometers to several micrometers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of a silicon comb structure using an inverse Talbot–Lau neutron grating interferometer

Kim

Hussey

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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We describe an inverse Talbot–Lau neutron grating interferometer that provides an extended autocorrelation length range for quantitative dark-field imaging. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a Talbot–Lau neutron grating interferometer (nTLI) with inverse geometry. We demonstrate a range of autocorrelation lengths (ACL) starting at low tens of nanometers, which is significantly extended compared to the ranges of conventional and symmetric setups. ACLs from a minimum of 44 nm to the maximum of 3.5 μm were presented for the designed wavelength of 4.4 Å in experiments. Additionally, the inverse nTLI has neutron-absorbing gratings with an optically thick gadolinium oxysulfide (Gadox) structure, allowing it to provide a visibility of up to 52% while maintaining a large field of view of approximately 100 mm × 100 mm. We demonstrate the application of our interferometer to quantitative dark-field imaging by using diluted polystyrene particles in an aqueous solution and silicon comb structures. We obtain quantitative structural information of the sphere size and concentration of diluted polystyrene particles and the period, height, and duty cycle of the silicon comb structures. The optically thick Gadox structure of the analyzer grating also provides improved characteristics for the correction of incoherent neutron scattering in an aqueous solution compared to the symmetric nTLI.

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“…Remarkable efforts have been put in place to develop the nGI technique, improving the instrumentation quality and pushing the boundaries of the accessible length scales toward the hundreds of nanometers range [42][43][44][45][46][47][48] . Besides providing information about the characteristic microscopic structure sizes in the probed object, the dark-field signal due to the underlying small-angle scattering (SAS) is sensitive to structural anisotropy and orientation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Characterization of oriented microstructures through anisotropic small-angle scattering by 2D neutron dark-field imaging

et al. 2020

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Within neutron imaging, different methods have been developed with the aim to go beyond the conventional contrast modalities, such as grating interferometry. Existing grating interferometers are sensitive to scattering in a single direction only, and thus investigations of anisotropic scattering structures imply the need for a circular scan of either the sample or the gratings. Here we propose an approach that allows assessment of anisotropic scattering in a single acquisition mode and to broaden the range of the investigation with respect to the probed correlation lengths. This is achieved by a far-field grating interferometer with a tailored 2D-design. The combination of a directional neutron dark-field imaging approach with a scan of the sample to detector distance yields to the characterization of the local 2D real-space correlation functions of a strongly oriented sample analogous to conventional small-angle scattering. Our results usher in quantitative and spatially resolved investigations of anisotropic and strongly oriented systems beyond current capabilities.

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Achromatic Non-Interferometric Single Grating Neutron Dark-Field Imaging

Cited by 14 publications

References 43 publications

Cold and Thermal Neutron Single Grating Dark-Field Imaging Extended to an Inverse Pattern Regime

Cold and Thermal Neutron Single Grating Dark-Field Imaging Extended to an Inverse Pattern Regime

Analysis of a silicon comb structure using an inverse Talbot–Lau neutron grating interferometer

Characterization of oriented microstructures through anisotropic small-angle scattering by 2D neutron dark-field imaging

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