Small-angle scattering and dark-field imaging for validation of a new neutron far-field interferometer

The continued advancement of complex materials often requires a deeper understanding of the structure–function relationship across many length scales, which quickly becomes an arduous task when multiple measurements are required to characterize hierarchical and inherently heterogeneous materials. Therefore, there are benefits in the simultaneous characterization of multiple length scales. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a new neutron far-field interferometer is under development that aims to enable a multi-scale measurement combining the best of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and neutron imaging and tomography. Spatially resolved structural information on the same length scales as SANS (0.001–1 µm) and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (USANS, 0.1–10 µm) will be collected via dark-field imaging simultaneously with regular attenuation radiography (>10 µm). The dark field is analogous to the polarization loss measured in spin-echo SANS (SESANS) and is related to isotropic SANS through a Hankel transform. Therefore, we use this close relationship and analyze results from SANS, USANS, SESANS and dark-field imaging of monodisperse spheres as a validation metric for the interferometry measurements. The results also highlight the strengths and weaknesses of these neutron techniques for both steady-state and pulsed neutron sources. Finally, we present an example of the value added by the spatial resolution enabled by dark-field imaging in the study of more complex heterogeneous materials. This information would otherwise be lost in other small-angle scattering measurements averaged over the sample.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Applied Crystallography
Published
2024-11-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1107/s1600576724009944
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Nuclear Physics and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.22

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Small-angle scattering and dark-field imaging for validation of a new neutron far-field interferometer

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Journal of Applied Crystallography
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article

Small-angle scattering and dark-field imaging for validation of a new neutron far-field interferometer

Liliana de Campo, Peter Bajcsy, M. Cyrus Daugherty, Fumiaki Funama, Gergely Nagy, Katie M. Weigandt, Robert M. Dalgliesh, Ryan P. Murphy, Jacob M. LaManna, Fankang Li, Daniel S. Hussey, Erik B. Watkins, Gregory N. Smith, Caitlyn M. Wolf, Pushkar S. Sathe, Anna Sokolova, Paul Kienzle, Sarah Robinson, M. G. Huber, Alexander Long, Lilin He, David L. Jacobson, Sven C. Vogel, Yuxuan Zhang, Wei‐Ren Chen, Youngju Kim, Nikolai N. Klimov, H. E. King
article en
2 citations

Abstract

The continued advancement of complex materials often requires a deeper understanding of the structure–function relationship across many length scales, which quickly becomes an arduous task when multiple measurements are required to characterize hierarchical and inherently heterogeneous materials. Therefore, there are benefits in the simultaneous characterization of multiple length scales. At the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a new neutron far-field interferometer is under development that aims to enable a multi-scale measurement combining the best of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and neutron imaging and tomography. Spatially resolved structural information on the same length scales as SANS (0.001–1 µm) and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (USANS, 0.1–10 µm) will be collected via dark-field imaging simultaneously with regular attenuation radiography (>10 µm). The dark field is analogous to the polarization loss measured in spin-echo SANS (SESANS) and is related to isotropic SANS through a Hankel transform. Therefore, we use this close relationship and analyze results from SANS, USANS, SESANS and dark-field imaging of monodisperse spheres as a validation metric for the interferometry measurements. The results also highlight the strengths and weaknesses of these neutron techniques for both steady-state and pulsed neutron sources. Finally, we present an example of the value added by the spatial resolution enabled by dark-field imaging in the study of more complex heterogeneous materials. This information would otherwise be lost in other small-angle scattering measurements averaged over the sample.

Journal of Applied CrystallographyVol. 57(6)
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (GB), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US), National Institute of Standards and Technology (US), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (AU), Los Alamos National Laboratory (US), Science and Technology Facilities Council (GB), Physical Measurement Laboratory (US), Information Technology Laboratory (US), NIST Center for Neutron Research (US), University of Maryland, College Park (US)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, University of Maryland, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Australian Government, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Openalex Percentile: Top 20%
Nuclear Physics and Applications
1.22
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