Radial spin echo small-angle neutron scattering method: concept and performance

A novel spin echo small-angle neutron scattering (SESANS) concept based on a rotationally symmetric magnetic field geometry is introduced. The proposed method is similar to the conventional linear SESANS technique but uses longitudinal precession fields and field gradients in a radial direction, as typically found in neutron spin echo (NSE) spectrometers. Radial SESANS could thus be implemented as an add-on to NSE setups. The neutron trajectory through the instrument is encoded with the help of radial gradients generated by radial shifters, which are coils placed in the beam area similar to Fresnel coils. The present work introduces the setup of the instrument and explores its performance and the relationship between the encoded momentum transfer and the precession angle. The results indicate that radial SESANS is only sensitive to scattering along the radial direction and thus measures the projected correlation function along this direction as a function of the spin echo length, defined similarly to linear SESANS. For an evaluation of the performance of the setup, the case of scattering from solid spheres is considered and the results calculated for the radial and linear SESANS cases are compared. Also discussed is the implementation of the radial magnetic field geometry in spin echo modulated small-angle neutron scattering.