Neutron reflectivity

As in the case of electromagnetic waves, the wave vector of neutrons inside a material is nk , where k is the wave vector in vacuum and n is the index of refraction (see manuscript on X-ray reflectivity). Again in analogy to X-rays, n can be written as 2 b n = 1 1 k2 where is the number density of the nuclei and b is the average (coherent) scattering length of the material. For natural nickel, consisting of 68% 58 Ni, 26% 60 Ni, 1% 61 Ni, 4% 62 Ni, and 1% 64 Ni , = 9 1028 m 3 and b = 10.3 1015 m , so that ~ 3.7 105 for 5 . This is the same order of magnitude as for x-rays. The only qualitative difference is that for some isotopes such as natural Ti ( b = 3.4 1015 m ) or pure 62 Ni b = 8.7 1015 m , the

scattering length is negative, so that n > 1 . This has important consequences for the reflection of neutrons from interfaces:
n <1

n >1

vacuum

material

total external reflection for < C = cos 1 n

no total external reflection; total internal reflection for < C = cos 1 n

If n < 1 , cos C ~ 1

c 2 = 1 ~ 2 ~ 0.5 for the case of natural Ni 2 and = 5 considered above.

To calculate the reflectivity for > C , consider single interface:

i eiki r

r e i k r r
x

t eikt r

boundary conditions at interface ( z = 0 ) : kix = krx = ktx

i + r = t d i d r d t + = kiz i kiz r = ktz t dz dz dz k k & r = iz tx i kiz + ktz From here, the derivation proceeds precisely as in the case of the Fresnel reflectivity for x-rays, where we had found the following result:

R= r i

1 16 2 2 b R~ Q4
2

QC

Q = 2kiz = 2ki sin

An interesting and powerful tool available for research using neutron (but not x-ray) reflectivity is contrast matching by isotope substitution. For instance, it is possible to change the ratio of hydrogen and deuterium in water such that the index of refraction is precisely equal to 1 (null water):

http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/~rkt/techniques/nrmain.html
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This effect is very useful in research on biological materials. For instance, the neutron reflectivity of a lipid membrane on null water is entirely determined by the lipid, with no contribution from the water. By adjusting the H / D ratio of the organic tail groups of the lipid molecules as well, one can selectively study the properties of the headgroups.

Neutron reflectivity in biology:

http://cell.e22.physik.tu-muenchen.de/research/sackmann.htm

Total external reflection of neutrons from surfaces is also the operating principle of neutron mirrors. Since the core of a research reactor has to be protected by heavy concrete against impacts from the outside world (e.g. airplane crashes) and vice versa, there is not much room for neutron scattering instruments in the confinement building housing the core. One therefore uses neutron guides coated with neutron mirrors to guide the neutrons outside the confinement building into a much larger guide hall built from standard building materials. neutron mirror

FRM-II Research Reactor

Atomic Egg

Neutron Guide Hall

Experimental Hall inside the Reactor

Eastern Experimental Hall

Since the critical angle decreases with decreasing neutron wavelength , this works best for cold neutrons with sub-thermal energies and wavelength 1 . Recently, so-called supermirrors with larger critical angles were developed. They consist of multilayers of elements such as Ni and Ti which are chemically similar, but whose indices of refraction are very different:

Supermirrors

http://www.sns.gov/users/instrument_systems/pdfs/optical/new/OCT-PresentationAnalysisofsupermirrordesign.pdf
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If one chooses the layer sequence judiciously, Bragg reflections from a Ni / Ti multilayer can extend the effective critical angle by up to a factor of 4 compared to pure Ni :
Bragg peaks

c(Ni)= 0.099(/) ()

c(mirror)= m c(Ni)

http://www.sns.gov/users/instrument_systems/pdfs/optical/new/OCT-PresentationAnalysisofsupermirrordesign.pdf
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