Small-angle scattering interferometry with neutron orbital angular momentum states
Methods to prepare and characterize neutron helical waves carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) were recently demonstrated at small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) facilities. These methods enable access to the neutron orbital degree of freedom which provides new avenues of exploration in fundamental science experiments as well as in material characterization applications. However, it remains a challenge to recover phase profiles from SANS measurements. We introduce and demonstrate a novel neutron interferometry technique for extracting phase information that is typically lost in SANS measurements. An array of reference beams, with complementary structured phase profiles, are put into a coherent superposition with the array of object beams, thereby manifesting the phase information in the far-field intensity profile. We demonstrate this by resolving petal-structure signatures of helical wave interference for the first time: an implementation of the long-sought recovery of phase information from small-angle scattering measurements.
Authors
- Owen Lailey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1051-1683)
- Dusan Sarenac (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8575-3367)
- David G. Cory (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1270-6268)
- Lisa DeBeer‐Schmitt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9679-3444)
- Huseyin Ekinci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3774-599X)
- Melissa E. Henderson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9122-0348)
- D. A. Pushin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4594-3403)
- M. G. Huber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3795-8445)
- Kirill Zhernenkov
- Charles W. Clark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8724-9885)
- J. S. White (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7738-0150)
Institutions
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (US)
- University of Waterloo (CA)
- Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (DE)
- Joint Quantum Institute (US)
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-12-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54991-8
- Citations
- 7
- Primary Topic
- Nuclear Physics and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.25
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Canada Excellence Research Chairs, Government of Canada
- Paul Scherrer Institut
- Canada First Research Excellence Fund
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Office of Science
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Nuclear Physics
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory