Thermal neutron polarisation

The basic principle for the production of polarised thermal neutrons is discussed and the choice of various crystal monochromators surveyed. Brief mention of broad-spectrum polarisers is made. The application of polarised neutrons to the study of magnetisation density distributions in magnetic crystals, the dynamic concept of polarisation, principle and use of polarisation analysis, the neutron spin-echo technique are discussed.     

Magnetic scattering of neutrons in magnetic superconductors

The magnetic dipolar interaction responsible for the neutron scattering due to magnetic moments in a crystal is affected by the persistent current in the superconducting state. From this effect, the small angle scattering of neutrons is strongly depressed, and the intensity maximum of the critical scattering appears at a finite scattering wave number even in ferromagnetic superconductors.     

Simultaneous energy analysis in a large angular range: A novel neutron spectrometer,its resolution and applications

A new type of crystal spectrometer for elastic and inelastic neutron scattering has been set up by modifying an existing flat-cone diffractormeter at the BER II-reactor in Berlin (West). The main difference to conventional triple axis spectrometers is the analyser part. It consists of large crystal plates which reflect the neutrons out of the horizontal plane into a curved multicounter. This allows simultaneous measurements in a large and continuous range of scattering angles for a constant energy transfer. The resolution function has been calculated and compared with experimental results. There is the possibility to focus acoustical phonons. We present applications together with experimental results such as quasielastic diffuse scattering in orientationally disordered crystals and inelastic scattering due to acoustical phonons. In combination with the flat-cone technique all elastic and inelastic scattering events of a single crystal can be collected in a systematic and efficient way.in collaboration with the Hahn-Meitner Institut, Berlin (West)     

On the possibility of high-energy neutron diffraction in a crystal in the field of laser radiation

For the first time the high-energy neutrons scattering in a crystal is considered under the influence of an external laser wave field. The process is inelastic with respect to the laser wave and at the same time it is elastic with respect to a crystal. The possibility of high-energy neutron diffraction is illustrated—wavelength of neutrons is less than the lattice period. The method is based on the multiphoton interaction of the neutron anomalous magnetic moment with the field of laser radiation by using the Farri representation. The neutron-phonon interaction is considered to be a perturbation described by the Fermi pseudopotential.     

In the wonderland of ultra-parallel neutron beams

Bragg reflections from single crystals yield angular widths of a few arcsec for thermal neutron beams. The Bonse-Hart proposal to attain a sharp, nearly rectangular profile by Bragg reflecting neutrons multiply from a channel-cut single crystal, was realized in its totality three and a half decades later by achieving the corresponding Darwin reflection curves for 5.23 Å neutrons. This facilitated SUSANS (Super USANS) measurements in the Q ～ 10^?5 Å^?1 range. The polarized neutron option was introduced into the SUSANS set-up by separating the up- and down-spin neutron beams by ～10 arcsec with a magnetic (air) prism. The neutron angular width has recently been reduced further by an order of magnitude to ～0.6 arcsec by diffracting 5.3 Å neutrons from a judiciously optimized Bragg prism. This constitutes the most parallel monochromatic neutron beam produced to date. I present the first SUSANS spectra probing the Q ～ 10^?6 Å^?1 domain, recorded with this beam.     

The scattering of thermal neutrons by crystals

The present article describes some experiments with thermal neutrons to investigate a variety of properties of crystals. Elastic scattering of the neutrons, like Bragg scattering of X-rays, helps to determine the atomic structure of crystals, and is particularly useful for locating light atoms, such as hydrogen, where X-rays fail. It also gives information on the arrangement of electron spins and the density distribution of unpaired electrons in magnetic atoms. Measurement of the change in energy of the neutrons in inelastic scattering gives the frequencies of the normal modes of vibration of the crystal, which are related to the interatomic forces. For magnetic crystals, inelastic scattering also gives the frequencies of spin waves, which depend on the magnetic interactions between the atoms. The article concludes with an account of the experimental techniques of thermal neutron scattering.     

Investigation of three-particle spin correlations during critical scattering of polarized neutrons from a nickel single crystal

The critical small-angle scattering of polarized neutrons from spin fluctuations in a nickel single crystal with a special inclined geometry of the magnetic field has been studied. The method of inclined geometry makes it possible to investigate not only two-particle spin correlations but also three-particle spin correlations that determine the polarization-dependent contribution to scattering, which is asymmetric with respect to the momentum transfer q. This contribution depends on the momentum transfer q as 1/(q ² + ξ^?2)^5/2, where f is the neutron scattering correlation length; it linearly increases with an increase in the magnetic field H in the low-field range and then reaches saturation. The results obtained are in good agreement with the similarity theory.     

Partial differential cross section of inelastic magnetic neutron scattering in the paramagnetic phase of LaCoO3

The partial differential cross section of inelastic magnetic neutron scattering from the compound LaCoO₃ in the paramagnetic phase is studied theoretically. The contribution to scattering from the high-spin state of an ion in zero magnetic field and the modification of this contribution upon application of a magnetic field are calculated using the effective Hamiltonian for the ⁵ D term. The amplitude of the peak in the dependence of the scattering cross section on the energy of scattered neutrons, which corresponds to the transition from the low-spin to the intermediate-spin state, is estimated.     

A polarised SUSANS facility to study magnetic systems

Using a right-angled magnetic air prism, we have achieved a separation of ～10 arcsec between ～2 arcsec wide up and down-spin peaks of 5.4 Å neutrons. The polarised neutron option has thus been introduced into the SUSANS instrument. Strongly spindependent SUSANS spectra have been observed over ±1.3 × 10^?4 Å^?1 range for several magnetic alloy samples. Spatial pair-distribution functions for the up and down-spins as well as the nuclear and magnetic scattering length density distributions in the micrometer domain, have been deduced from these spectra.     

用于凝聚态物质研究的旋转晶体中子飞行时间谱仪

本文介绍了我所自行设计和制造的一台旋转晶体中子飞行时间谱仪。该仪器对凝聚态物质的各种动力学研究是一个有效的工具。我们通过选取适当的锗单晶(111)平面旋转轴的办法消除了仪器单色束中多晶面反射的“污染”(contamination)。该谱仪的入射初始中子能量范围可为10—100meV,对应的初始中子能量分辨率为2.5—7.2％。本文根据Brockhouse理论对散射中子的分辨率作了详细的理论计算,并将计算结果与实测结果进行了对比。介绍了标准钒样品的非弹性散射中子谱的测量结果并与国外几个同类型谱仪的基本特性作了比较。     

Brillouin and Umklapp scattering in polybutadiene: comparison of neutron and x-ray scattering

We report a comparison of high resolution inelastic x-ray Brillouin scattering to coherent inelastic neutron scattering for amorphous deuterated polybutadiene, done for one temperature in the glass phase and another one in the melt. The x-ray scattering proves to be by far the better technique for such a polymer within its present resolution bounds. The neutron scattering allows one to extend these measurements to a much better resolution, showing an additional quasielastic signal in the melt. The results suggest x-ray measurements at higher momentum transfer, to see whether they are complementary to neutrons.     

A quantitative determination of magnetic fluctuations in CuGeO3

A polarised neutron scattering investigation has been carried out on a powder sample of CuGeO₃ within the temperature range of 1.5 K to 600 K. The magnetic scattering has been separated from all other contributions by using polarised neutrons and polarisation analysis and placed onto an absolute scale. At low temperatures the long wavelength components of the paramagnetic response are suppressed consistent with the formation of Cu dimers in which the magnetic moments are correlated antiferromagnetically. This form of the scattering persists to temperatures well above the dimerisation temperature T _sp ∼ 14 K. However as the temperature is raised the intensity of the long wavelength spin fluctuations increases and above ∼150 K they are the dominant feature in the wave vector dependence of the response. At all temperatures the observed scattering extrapolates smoothly to the Q = 0 value given by the uniform susceptibility. Consequently the thermal variation of the uniform susceptibility arises from the evolution of the long wavelength magnetic fluctuations. At large wave vectors the energy dependence of the scattering revealed that the response occurs below 16 meV in agreement with the reported maximum magnetic excitation energy at the zone boundary in the ground state. However the total magnetic scattering is significantly less than that expected for a local moment system suggesting that the spectrum of thermal and quantum fluctuations overlap. Received 30 May 2000 and Received in final form 22 March 2001     

Multiquantum incoherent neutron scattering from molecular solids

General expressions are obtained for the scattering of neutrons from molecular solids with the exchange of m-quanta. Explicit expressions are obtained for the total cross section, when both the phonon and the torson modes are given by the Einstein distribution functions. The expressions can be readily utilized to understand neutron scattering from a molecular crystal.     

A precise measurement of the spin-dependent neutron scattering length of 3He

The poor knowledge of the spin-dependent neutron scattering length of ³He has until now handicapped nuclear four body theory and the interpretation of excitations in the quantum liquid. We have measured, for the first time directly, the real part of the bound incoherent neutron scattering length, b_i′ of ³He. A neutron spin echo spectrometer was used to detect pseudomagnetic precession of polarised neutrons passing through polarised ³He gas. Any absolute calibrations of sample and beam parameters were avoided using simple transmission measurements with non-polarised neutrons. The only a priory information required was the spin-dependent neutron absorption cross section of ³He. The result is b_i′ = -2.365(20) fm, which reduces the prior uncertainty by a factor 30. The corresponding new value of the bound incoherent scattering cross section is σ_i = 1.532(12) barn. Including the known value of the coherent neutron scattering length, we obtain new values for the real parts of the free triplet and singlet neutron scattering lengths, a_-′ = 7.370(58) fm and a₊′ = 3.278(53) fm.     

Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Wave Interference on Ferromagnetic Alloys

The detection conditions and features of direct and scattered neutron wave interference are studied on magnetized Co₆₇Fe₃₁V₂ alloy slabs. The angular intensity distributions of neutrons passed through a sample are measured for the opposite polarization directions of the initial neutron beam. The sought-for effect that is induced by the magnetic scattering on crystal structure irregularities in specimens manifest itself by different areas of peaks “without neutron spin flip.” The ratio of these areas depends on the thermal treatment mode, sample thickness and strength of the magnetic field applied to the sample. The peaks “with neutron spin flip” are due to the mechanism of neutron wave passage through magnetononcollinear boundaries. The methods for experimental data acquisition and processing are reported as well.     

Larmor labeling development

The first applications of polarized neutrons were to distinguish magnetic from nuclear scattering amplitudes. Much later the first set-ups for measuring the precession phase of the polarization passing a magnetic field were realized. This phase, determined by the field strength and interaction time, could label magnetic fields, wavelength of the neutrons and length over which the field is present. The latter could be used by proper shaping of the magnetic field to label also the direction of transmitted neutrons. The advantage of this labeling is that high precision measurements are possible without strong confinement of the beam by diaphragms. An overview of the use of Larmor labeling of polarized neutrons is given for applications in magnetism, in inelastic neutron scattering and small angle scattering.     

Studies of parity and time reversal symmetries in neutron scattering from165Ho

We describe searches for parity and time reversal violations in the scattering of polarized neutrons from polarized and aligned¹⁶⁵Ho targets. We have completed a search with 7.1 and 11.0 MeV neutrons for P_oddT_odd terms in the elastic scattering forward amplitude of the form s. (I×K), wheres is the neutron spin,I is the target spin andk is the neutron momentum vector. The target was a single crystal of holmium, polarized horizontally along itsb axis by a 1 Tesla magnetic field. The neutrons were polarized vertically. Differences in the neutron transmission were measured for neutrons with spins parallel (antiparallel) toI×k. The P,T violating analyzing powers were found to be consistent with zero at the few 10⁻³ level: ρ_P,T(7.1 MeV)=−0.88 (±2.02) x 10⁻³, ρ_P,T(11.0 MeV)=−0.4 (±2.88) x 10⁻³. We have also attempted to find enhancements with MeV neutrons in P-violation due to the term s\k. We are preparing an aligned target cryostat for investigations of P_evenT_odd terms {bd(I\k)(I×k)\s} in neutron scattering. The target will be a single crystal cylinder of¹⁶⁵Ho cooled to 100 mK in a bath of liquid helium and rotated by a shaft from a room temperature stepping motor. The cylinder will be oriented vertically and the alignment (c) axis oriented horizontally. Warming or rotation of the sample allows one to separate effects that mimic the sought-after time reversal violating term.     

Design of a neutron polarizer using polarizing super mirrors for the TOF-SANS instrument at the J-PARC

Small-angle neutron scattering technique using polarized neutrons is powerful for studying structures in the range between nm and μm of magnetic materials. In addition, they have been used for the incident beam of focusing-geometry SANS instruments using a magnetic neutron lens, where a high polarization degree of about 99.9% is necessary because the imperfectness of the neutron polarization increases the background level. We are going to install such a magnetic focusing system on the new time-of-flight SANS (TOF-SANS) instrument at the J-PARC so as to make q_min smaller than 10⁻³ Å⁻¹ and improve the resolution of the conventional TOF-SANS at low q. As a polarizing device of the instrument, two V-shaped polarizing super mirrors arranged in crossed geometry to enhance the polarization degree has been considered. In this paper, we present the concept and the detailed design of this device and its performance estimated by Monte Carlo simulations.     

Study of the heavy-fermion compound CeRu<Subscript>2</Subscript>Si<Subscript>2</Subscript> by the small-angle neutron scattering method

In order to directly observe neutron scattering by heavy fermion quasiparticles at low temperatures, a CeRu₂Si₂ single crystal has been studied by the small-angle neutron scattering method. In the experiment, neutron scattering is observed at T = 0.85 K for momentum transfers q ≤ 0.04 Å^?1, which is treated as the orbital component of magnetic scattering by heavy fermion quasiparticles. It has been found that the application of a magnetic field H = 1 T leads to both an increase in the observed scattering and its anisotropy with respect to the field direction. Moreover, measurements in the magnetic field reveal additional scattering for q > 0.04 Å^?1, which is well described by a Lorentzian and is interpreted as neutron magnetic scattering by spin-density fluctuations with a correlation radius R_c ≈ 30 Å.     

Neutron optics of strongly absorbing media and interaction of long-wave neutrons with gadolinium films

The modern state of neutron optics of absorbing media is briefly surveyed. In all probability, there are no physics arguments that would constrain, in the case of strong absorption, the applicability of the commonly accepted Fermi-Foldy dispersion law for neutron waves. In accord with previously known results, it is found that the coefficient of reflection of neutrons from the boundary of a strongly absorbing medium tends to unity with decreasing velocity of neutrons incident on this medium. At low neutron energies peculiar to the case of ultracold neutrons, the complex scattering length for neutron-nucleus interaction proves to be constant, whence it follows that the cross section for neutron capture by a free nucleus obeys the 1/v law. The cross section for the analogous process on nuclei within a medium is described by the 1/v′ law, where v′=?k′/m, with k′ being the real part of the neutron wave number in the medium. As the incident-neutron velocity v decreases, the velocity v′ in a medium tends to some limiting value. From the coefficient of reflection of cold neutrons that is measured as a function of the wavelength and the angle of incidence, a refined value is found for the real part of the scattering length for neutron interaction with gadolinium nuclei. An experiment was performed where ultracold neutrons were transmitted through thin samples containing natural gadolinium. In analyzing the results of this experiment, use was made of the value found here for the real part of the neutron-nucleus scattering length. The experiment indicates that the imaginary part of the scattering length is a constant or, what is the same, that, for neutron velocities ranging from 4 to about 120 m/s, the 1/v law for the cross section for neutron capture by a free nucleus is valid to within 6%.