NEUTRON BEAM COLLIMATOR SYSTEM USING TRANSVERSE MOMENTUM DISTRIBUTION

摘要

In a general aspect, a collimator system is described. In some aspects, a neutron beam collimation method includes receiving a neutron beam from a neutron source; polarizing the neutron beam using a polarizer, and obtaining a collimated neutron beam from the polarized neutron beam. The neutron beam generated by the neutron source has a first beam divergence and includes a plurality of neutrons. The collimated neutron beam has a second beam divergence that is less than the first beam divergence. Obtaining the collimated neutron beam includes mapping transverse momentum of each respective neutron, of the plurality of neutrons, onto a polarization degree of freedom of the respective neutron by applying a sequence of phase shift gradients to the polarized neutron beam, and after applying the sequence of phase shift gradients, passing the polarized neutron beam through an analyzer.