Demonstration of focusing Wolter mirrors for neutron phase and magnetic imaging

Published

April 21, 2021

Author(s)

Daniel S. Hussey, Han Wen, Huarui Wu, Thomas R. Gentile, Wangchun Chen, David L. Jacobson, Jacob LaManna, B. Khaykovich

Abstract

Image-forming focusing mirrors were employed to demonstrate two different modalities of neutron imaging, phase imaging with a far-field interferometer, and magnetic-field imaging through the manipulation of the neutron beam polarization. For the phase imaging, we show that the focusing mirrors preserve the beam coherence and the path-length differences that give rise to the far-field moiré pattern. We demonstrated that the visibility of the moiré pattern is modified by small angle scattering from a highly porous foam. This experiment demonstrates the feasibility of using Wolter optics to significantly improve the spatial resolution of the far-field interferometer. For the magnetic imaging, the rotation of the neutron polarization in the magnetic field was measured by placing a solenoid at the focus of the mirrors. The beam was polarized upstream of the solenoid, while the spin analyzer was situated between the solenoid and the mirrors. Such a polarizing neutron microscope provides a path toward considerably improved spatial resolution in neutron imaging of magnetic materials.

Citation

Journal of Imaging Science

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

neutron imaging, Wolter optics, polarized neutron imaging, far-field interferometer

Citation

, D. , Wen, H. , Wu, H. , Gentile, T. , Chen, W. , Duewer, D. , LaManna, J. and Khaykovich, B. (2021), Demonstration of focusing Wolter mirrors for neutron phase and magnetic imaging, Journal of Imaging Science, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=924632 (Accessed October 7, 2025)