NIST’s Curved Neutron Beams Could Deliver Benefits Straight to Industry
In a physics first, a team including scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of Buffalo, the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) and other institutions, has created a way to make beams of neutrons travel in curves. These Airy beams (named for English scientist ), which the team created using a custom-built device, could enhance neutrons’ ability to reveal useful information about materials ranging from pharmaceuticals to perfumes to pesticides — in part because the beams can bend around obstacles.
A paper announcing the findings appears in today’s issue of Physical Review Letters. The team was led by the University of Buffalo’s Dusan Sarenac, IQC alum, and coauthors from IQC built the custom device that helped create the Airy beam.
The team also includes scientists from the University of Maryland, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Switzerland’s Paul Scherrer Institut, and Germany’s Jülich Center for Neutron Science at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum.
“It took us years of work to figure out the correct dimensions for the array. We only needed about 48 hours to carve the grating at the University of ݮƵ’s nanofabrication facility, but before that it took years of a postdoctoral fellow’s time to prepare.”
- Dr. Dmitry Pushin, IQC faculty and professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of ݮƵ.
“We think combining neutron beams could expand the Airy beams’ usefulness. If someone wants Airy beams tailored for some physics or material application, they can tweak our techniques and get them.”
- Dr. Dusan Sarenac, professor, University of Buffalo