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Atomic structure holography using thermal neutrons

Nature volume 414, pages 525–527 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

The idea of atomic-resolution holography has its roots in the X-ray work of Bragg1 and in Gabor's electron interference microscope2. Gabor's lensless microscope was not realized in his time, but over the past twelve years there has been a steady increase in the number of reports on atomic-resolution holography. All of this work involves the use of electrons3,4,5,6 or hard X-rays7,8,9,10,11 to produce the hologram. Neutrons are often unique among scattering probes in their interaction with materials: for example, the relative visibility of hydrogen and its isotopes is a great advantage in the study of polymers and biologically relevant materials. Recent work12 proposed that atomic-resolution holography could be achieved with thermal neutrons. Here we use monochromatic thermal neutrons, adopting the inside-source concept of Szöke13, to image planes of oxygen atoms located above and below a single hydrogen atom in the oxide mineral simpsonite14.

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Figure 1: Plan view photograph of the experimental set-up.
Figure 2: Raw hologram data, plotted in 2° × 2° pixels on a surface of constant scattered wavevector magnitude (|kout| = 4.8 Å-1).
Figure 3: Reconstructed plane located approximately +0.9 Å from the hydrogen atom (the origin).
Figure 4: Reconstructed plane located approximately -1.4 Å from the hydrogen atom (the origin).

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the intellectual contributions of I. P. Swainson and the expert technical assistance of J. H. Fox and L. E. McEwan. We also thank T. S. Ecrit for providing the simpsonite crystal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River Laboratories, Chalk River, K0J 1J0, Ontario, Canada

    B. Sur & V. N. P. Anghel

  2. National Research Council, Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, Chalk River, K0J 1J0, Ontario, Canada

    R. B. Rogge & J. Katsaras

  3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, L8S 4M1, Ontario, Canada

    R. P. Hammond

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  1. B. Sur
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  2. R. B. Rogge
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Correspondence to R. B. Rogge.

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Sur, B., Rogge, R., Hammond, R. et al. Atomic structure holography using thermal neutrons. Nature 414, 525–527 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35107026

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