We report the first successful operation of a neutron interferometer having a separate beam recombining crystal. We achieved this result at the neutron interferometry setup S18 at the ILL in Grenoble by a collaboration between TU Wien, ILL Grenoble and INRIM Torino. While previous interferometers were machined out of a single crystal block, we managed to align two crystals on nanoradian and picometer scales, as required to obtain neutron interference. As a decisive proof of principle demonstration, it opens the door to a new generation of neutron interferometers and exciting applications.
@article{arxiv.2202.08769,
title = {Neutron interference from a split-crystal interferometer},
author = {Hartmut Lemmel and Michael Jentschel and Hartmut Abele and Fabien Lafont and Bruno Guerard and Carlo P. Sasso and Giovanni Mana and Enrico Massa},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.08769},
year = {2022}
}