Realization of an advanced super-mirror solid-state neutron polarizer for the instrument PF1B at the Institut Laue-Langevin.

In this last of a series of three papers on the development of an advanced solid-state neutron polarizer, we present the final construction of the polarizer and the results of its commissioning. The polarizer uses spin-selective reflection of neutrons by interfaces coated with polarizing super-mirrors. The polarizer is built entirely in-house for the PF1B cold neutron beam facility at the Institut Max von Laue-Paul Langevin (ILL). It has been installed in the PF1B casemate and tested under real conditions. The average transmission for the "good" spin component is measured to be >30%. The polarization averaged over the capture spectrum reaches a record value of Pn ≈ 0.997 for the full angular divergence in the neutron beam, delivered by the H113 neutron guide, and the full wavelength band λ of 0.3-2.0 nm. This unprecedented performance is due to a series of innovations in the design and fabrication in the following domains: choice of the substrate material, super-mirror and anti-reflecting multilayer coatings, magnetizing field, and assembling process. The polarizer is used for user experiments at PF1B since the last reactor cycle in 2020.

A project of advanced solid-state neutron polarizer for PF1B instrument at Institut Laue-Langevin.

Among polarizers based on the neutron reflection from Super-Mirrors (SMs), solid-state neutron-optical devices have many advantages. The most relevant is the 5-10 times smaller size along the neutron beam direction compared to more traditional air-gap devices. An important condition for a good SM polarizer is the matching of the substrate SLD (Scattering Length Density) with the SM coating SLD for the spin-down component. For traditional Fe/Si SM on the Si substrate, this SLD step is positive when a neutron goes from the substrate to the SM, which leads to a significant degradation of the polarizer performance in the small Q region. This can be solved by replacing single-crystal Si substrates by single-crystal sapphire or quartz substrates. The latter shows a negative SLD step for the spin-down neutron polarization component at the interface with Fe and, therefore, avoid the total reflection regime in the small Q region. In order to optimize the polarizer performance, we formulate the concept of sapphire V-bender. We perform ray-tracing simulations of sapphire V-bender, compare results with those for traditional C-bender on Si, and study experimentally V-bender prototypes with different substrates. Our results show that the choice of substrate material, polarizer geometry, as well the strength and quality of magnetizing field have dramatic effect on the polarizer performance. In particular, we compare the performance of polarizer for the applied magnetic field strength of 50 mT and 300 mT. Only the large field strength (300 mT) provides an excellent agreement between the simulated and measured polarization values. For the double-reflection configuration, a record polarization >0.999 was obtained in the neutron wavelength band of 0.3-1.2 nm with only 1% decrease at 2 nm. Without any collimation, the polarization averaged over the full outgoing capture spectrum, 0.997, was found to be equal to the value obtained previously using only a double polarizer in the "crossed" (X-SM) geometry. These results are applied in a full-scale polarizer for the PF1B instrument.

Large-distance refocusing of a submicrometre beam from an X-ray waveguide.

Among the several available X-ray optics for synchrotron radiation producing micrometre and submicrometre beams with high intensity, the X-ray waveguide (WG) can provide the smallest hard X-ray beam in one direction. A drawback of this optics is that, owing to the divergence at the exit, a nanometre-sized spot on the sample can only be obtained if this is within a few micrometres of the WG exit. Another limitation is that in planar WGs the beam is compressed in only one direction. Here, using a dynamically bent elliptical Si/Pt mirror, the guided X-ray beam has been refocused at approximately 1 m from the waveguide exit. The large working distance between the device and the submicrometre focus leaves some space for sample environment (vacuum chamber, furnace, cryostat, magnets, high-pressure device etc.) and allows cross-coupled geometries with two WGs for efficient compression in two directions.

First observation of meridional focusing of an X-ray beam using diffraction by a crystal with a transverse groove.

The possibility of concentrating a synchrotron X-ray beam using diffraction by a single crystal with a properly designed transverse groove on its surface, suggested earlier, has been studied experimentally. Here, the first experimental demonstration of this effect is reported, performed on beamline BM5 at the ESRF. The experimental result confirms the theoretical model.