Neutron phase spin echo

Abstract

A novel neutron spin resonance technique is presented based on the well-know neutron spin echo method. In a first proof-of-principle measurement using a monochromatic neutron beam, it is demonstrated that relative velocity changes of down to a precision of 4 × 10 −7 can be resolved, corresponding to an energy resolution of better than 3 neV. Currently, the sensitivity is only limited by counting statistics and not by systematic effects. An improvement by another two orders of magnitude can be achieved with a dedicated setup, allowing for energy resolutions in the 10 peV regime. The new technique is ideally suited for investigations in the field of precision fundamental neutron physics, but will also be beneficial in scattering applications.