Two-mirror spin–wave neutron interferometer

Abstract

The characteristics of a spin-wave neutron interferometer comprising two parallel magnetic mirrors located in noncollinear to the magnetizations of the mirrors are investigated. The device can be used to study the properties of the neutron wave packet and measure the time and spatial correlations of material densities in the medium and on the surface. The interferometer’s sensitivity and the observed neutron coherence length are estimated using experimental data. The possible applications of neutron spin-echo spectrometry based on the two-mirror interferometer are discussed.