Diffraction Enhancement of the Stern—Gerlach Effect for a Neutron in a Crystal

The spatial splitting of an unpolarized neutron beam into two spin components in an inhomogeneous magnetic field (an analog of the Stern-Gerlach experiment) with small gradients has been measured at the Laue diffraction in a crystal and Bragg angles θB = (78–82)° close to a right one. The spatial splitting of the beam at a path length of 21.8 cm has reached (4.1 ± 0.1) cm (at a maximum gradient of 1.5 G/cm and a diffraction angle of 82°). In the absence of the crystal, the splitting would be ∼ 3.8 × 10−7 cm at the same distance and gradient. The experimental enhancement coefficient is ∼ 105 tan2 θB, which is consistent with the theory.