Generation of Neutron Airy Beams
The Airy wave packet is a solution to the potential-free Schrödinger equation that exhibits remarkable properties such as self-acceleration, nondiffraction, and self-healing. Although Airy beams are now routinely realized with electromagnetic waves and electrons, the implementation with neutrons has remained elusive due to small transverse coherence lengths, low fluence rates, and the absence of neutron lenses. In this Letter, we overcome these challenges through a holographic approach and present the first experimental demonstration of neutron Airy beams. The presented techniques pave the way for fundamental physics studies with Airy beams of nonelementary particles, the development of novel neutron optics components, and the realization of neutron Airy-vortex beams.
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)
- National Institute of Standards (EG)
- Joint Quantum Institute (US)
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.134.153401
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.49
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Canada Excellence Research Chairs, Government of Canada
- Paul Scherrer Institut
- Canada First Research Excellence Fund
- Office of Science
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Nuclear Physics
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory