Researchers at NIST and Sandia National Laboratories have successfully imaged an isolated electric field using neutrons for the first time. The proof-of-principle experiment utilized a new sensitive polarimetry method to detect the small spin rotation of neutrons caused by the effective magnetic field produced by their motion through an electric field.
The key technical achievement was developing a method to measure the small spin rotation of neutrons using a highly sensitive polarimeter. By orienting the neutron spin perpendicular to the polarimetry axis, the researchers achieved two orders of magnitude greater sensitivity compared to conventional methods.
The electric field imaging was demonstrated using a high electric field test apparatus developed by Sandia Labs, generating an electric field of 35 kV across a thin membrane. The researchers observed and modeled the electric field distribution, achieving quantitative agreement between the measured and calculated signal contrast.
This breakthrough opens up new possibilities for visualizing electric fields inside objects that cannot be accessed by other probes, potentially enabling new diagnostic techniques for studying the structure of electric potential, polarization, charge distribution, and dielectric properties. Further collaboration with Sandia is expected to explore applications of electric field imaging with neutrons.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/fundamental-physics-electric-field-imaging-neutrons
Keywords: neutron spin, neutron velocity, polychromatic neutron beam, sensitive polarimetry, electric field imaging, neutron spin filters, highly spin dependent transmission, magnetic field, neutron-transparent windings, solenoid, neutron transmission, laboratory magnetic field, non-adiabatic transition, He-3 gas, polarized He-3, spin dependent transmission, neutron polarization, neutron beam, neutron wavelength, neutron velocity, electrostatic field, target volume, electric field methods, electrostatic field inside, target volume, electric field measurement, electric field imaging, neutron image, electric field, electric potential, electric polarization, charge distribution, dielectric constant, spatially dependent electric fields
