The first neutron interferometer built of holographic gratings

Schellhorn, U.; Rupp, R. A.; Breer, S.; May, Roland P.

doi:10.1016/s0921-4526(97)00015-x

Cited by 35 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Finally, the whole interferometer has turned out to be very stable, compact and robust despite our high demand on accuracy. The prototype [101] was produced in OsnabrÃ Figure 1 of Ref. [101].…”

Section: Design and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The prototype [101] was produced in OsnabrÃ Figure 1 of Ref. [101]. Due to small Bragg angles at cold neutron wavelengths the interfering 0-(= trr + rrt) and H-(= rrr + trt) beams cannot be separated easily from the parasitic beams (= ttt, ttr, rrr, rtr) and thus contrast and visibility v are reduced.…”

Section: Design and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Then a phase flag made from sapphire was rotated through both beam paths, thus yielding a relative phase shift between the 0-and the H-beam as previously described in Ref. [101]. We expect an interference pattern of the form…”

Section: Lll Geometry With Beam Paths As Illustrated Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The photo-neutronrefractive effect

Fally

2002

Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics

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Section: Design and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Design and Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The photo-neutronrefractive effect

Fally

2002

Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics

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“…The first demonstration of a Mach-Zehnder based grating NI in 1985 [22] used 21 µm periodic reflection gratings as beam spliters for monochromatic (λ = 0.315 nm) neutrons. A few years later, three transmission phase grating Mach-Zehnder NI was demonstrated for cold neutrons (0.2 nm < λ < 50 nm) [23][24][25] with mechanical and holographic gratings [26]. The need for cold-or very cold-neutrons with a high degree of collimation limits the use of such interferometers in material science and condensed matter research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Far-field interference of a neutron white beam and the applications to noninvasive phase-contrast imaging

et al. 2017

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We demonstrate a two phase-grating, multi-beam neutron interferometer by using a modified Ronchi setup in a far-field regime. The functionality of the interferometer is based on the universal moiré effect that was recently implemented for X-ray phase-contrast imaging in the far-field regime.Interference fringes were achieved with monochromatic, bichromatic, and polychromatic neutron beams; for both continuous and pulsed beams. This far-field neutron interferometry allows for the utilization of the full neutron flux for precise measurements of potential gradients, and expands neutron phase-contrast imaging techniques to more intense polycromatic neutron beams. *

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“…This led to a demonstration of a MZ -based grating NI with reflection gratings [16] and a three phase-grating MZ NI for low energy (<1 meV) neutrons [17][18][19][20]. However, the inherently low intensity of <1 meV neutrons makes it difficult for these grating interferometers to outperform the perfect crystal NI.…”

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confidence: 99%

Three Phase-Grating Moiré Neutron Interferometer for Large Interferometer Area Applications

et al. 2018

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We demonstrate a three phase-grating moiré neutron interferometer in a highly intense neutron beam as a robust candidate for large area interferometry applications and for the characterization of materials. This novel far-field moiré technique allows for broad wavelength acceptance and relaxed requirements related to fabrication and alignment, thus circumventing the main obstacles associated with perfect crystal neutron interferometry. We observed interference fringes with an interferometer length of 4 m and examined the effects of an aluminum 6061 alloy sample on the coherence of the system. Experiments to measure the autocorrelation length of samples and the universal gravitational constant are proposed and discussed. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.113201 Interferometers employing particle self-interference have proven to be an extremely sensitive measuring tool, allowing for the precise characterization of material properties as well as measurements of fundamental constants [1,2]. Neutrons, in particular, are a convenient probe due to their relatively large mass, electric neutrality, and subnanometer-sized wavelengths. The earliest neutron interferometer (NI) was formed via a pair of prisms and, through wave front division, achieved Fresnel interference effects with up to 60 μm path separations [3]. Amplitude division from Bragg diffraction off of crystal planes was later used to make perfect crystal NIs with Mach-Zehnder (MZ) path separations of several centimeters [4]. This relatively large path separation along with the macroscopic size of the interferometer contributed to its success in exploring the nature of the neutron and its interactions [5][6][7][8][9][10]. However, perfect crystal NIs possess a very narrow wavelength acceptance, are difficult to fabricate, and operate only under stringent forms of vibration isolation and beam collimation [11][12][13][14][15]. This limits their widespread adaption at many neutron sources.Microfabricated periodic structures have been employed as neutron optical elements to produce quantum interference. This led to a demonstration of a MZ -based grating NI with reflection gratings [16] and a three phase-grating MZ NI for low energy (<1 meV) neutrons [17][18][19][20]. However, the inherently low intensity of <1 meV neutrons makes it difficult for these grating interferometers to outperform the perfect crystal NI.Here, we demonstrate a broadband, three phase-grating moire interferometer (PGMI) operating in the far field. The schematic diagram of the setup is depicted in Fig. 1(a). The three PGMI employs the universal moiré effect [21] and is an extension to the recently demonstrated two phasegrating moiré neutron interferometer [22,23]. Contrary to the typical MZ interferometers that have two separate and distinct beam paths, the PGMI works in the full field of a cone beam from a finite source, similar to in-line holographic devices. Such full-field systems can be understood intuitively in the framework of Fourier imaging developed by Cowley and Moodie [24,25]: the sec...

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The first neutron interferometer built of holographic gratings

Cited by 35 publications

References 3 publications

The photo-neutronrefractive effect

The photo-neutronrefractive effect

Far-field interference of a neutron white beam and the applications to noninvasive phase-contrast imaging

Three Phase-Grating Moiré Neutron Interferometer for Large Interferometer Area Applications

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