Neutron spin echo: A new concept in polarized thermal neutron techniques

Abstract

A simple method to change and keep track of neutron beam polarization non-parallel to the magnetic field is described. It makes possible the establishment of a new focusing effect we call neutron spin echo. The technique developed and tested experimentally can be applied in several novel ways, e. g. for neutron spin flipper of superior characteristics, for a very high resolution spectrometer for direct determination of the Fourier transform of the scattering function, for generalised polarization analysis and for the measurement of neutron particle properties with significantly improved precision.