Overview of neutron interferometry at NIST

• Main Authors: Huber Michael G., Hoogerheide Shannon F., Arif Muhammad, Haun Robert W., Wietfeldt Fred E., Black Timothy C., Shahi Chandra B., Heacock Benjamin, Young Albert R., Taminiau Ivar A.J., Sarenac Dusan, Cory David G., Pushin Dmitry A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: EDP Sciences 2019-01-01
• Series: EPJ Web of Conferences
• Online Access: https://www.epj-conferences.org/articles/epjconf/pdf/2019/24/epjconf-ppns2019_06001.pdf

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.