$^{3}$\textbf{He neutron spin filters for polarized neutron scattering}.

ORAL

Abstract

Polarized neutron scattering (PNS) is a powerful tool that probes the magnetic structures in a wide variety of magnetic materials. Polarized $^{3}$He gas, produced by optical pumping, can be used to polarize or analyze neutron beams because of the strong spin dependence of the neutron absorption cross section for $^{3}$He. Polarized $^{3}$He neutron spin filters (NSF) have been of great interest in PNS community due to recent significant improvement of their performance. Here I will discuss successful applications using $^{3}$He NSFs in polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) and triple-axis spectrometry (TAS). In PNR, a $^{3}$He NSF in conjunction with a position-sensitive detector allows for efficient polarization analysis of off-specular scattering over a broad range of reciprocal space. In TAS, a $^{3}$He NSF in combination with a double focusing pyrolytic graphite monochromator provides greater versatility and higher intensity compared to a Heusler polarizer. Finally I will present the results from patterned magnetically-coupled thin films in PNR and our first ``proof-of-principle'' experiment in TAS, both of which were performed using $^{3}$He NSF(s) at the NIST Center for Neutron Research.

Authors

  • Wangchun Chen

  • Julie Borchers

  • Ying Chen

  • Kevin O'Donovan

  • Ross Erwin

  • Jeffrey Lynn

  • Charles Majkrzak

  • Sarah McKenney

  • Thomas Gentile

    • NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland