SANS polarization analysis with nuclear spin-polarized ³He

A neutron spin filter based on transmission through nuclear-spin-polarized ³He gas has been applied to polarization analysis of small angle neutron scattering (SANS). Such spin filters, which are based on the large spin dependence of the absorption of neutrons by ³He, make SANS polarization analysis possible because of their large angular acceptance. In the present experiment, a ³He-based analyzer was employed to separate nuclear scattering into its coherent and spin-incoherent components. Polarized ³He analyzers were prepared by two different optical pumping methods and installed on the NG3 SANS instrument at the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). Measurements were taken on cellophane tape and silica gel, for which the scattering is almost completely incoherent and coherent, respectively, and on a combined sample. For the combined sample, separation of the coherent part from the incoherent part was successfully demonstrated using polarization analysis.