Overview of neutron interferometry at NIST

¹ National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA
² Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70188, USA
³ University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC 28403, USA
⁴ University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
⁵ North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
⁶ Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Durham, NC 27708, USA
⁷ Neutron Optics LP, Waterloo, ON N2L0A7, Canada
⁸ University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L3G1, Canada
⁹ Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L3G1, Canada
¹⁰ Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON N2L2Y5, Canada
¹¹ Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON M5G1Z8, Canada

^a e-mail: michael.huber@nist.gov

Published online: 12 December 2019

Abstract

Neutron interferometry at the National Institute of Standards and Technology is a well-established program that performs experiments in a wide range of areas including materials science, quantum information, precision measurements of coherent and incoherent scattering lengths, and dark energy/fifth force searches. Central to the continued success of this program is the further understanding and elimination of instabilities and coherence-losses whether they are from thermal, vibrational, or dynamical sources. We have spent considerable effort in fabricating new interferometer crystals which have higher maximum fringe visibilities and that can be tailored to specific experiments. We describe the current facilities and a new post-machining fabrication process of crystal annealing.