Polychromatic neutron phase-contrast imaging of weakly absorbing samples enabled by phase retrieval

Two of the first crop of SOLID PhD students, Maja Østergaard (iNANO and Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University) and Estrid B. Naver (Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark) are shared first authors on a collaborative effort involving several SOLID research groups just published in Journal of Applied Crystallography (https://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?S1600576723003011). In the paper, neutron propagation based phase contrast imaging with a polychromatic beam is demonstrated and it is shown that phase retrieval affords improvements in signal quality –paving a simple way to even better neutron imaging.

Absctract

The use of a phase-retrieval technique for propagation-based phase-contrast neutron imaging with a polychromatic beam is demonstrated. This enables imaging of samples with low absorption contrast and/or improving the signal-to-noise ratio to facilitate e.g. time-resolved measurements. A metal sample, designed to be close to a phase pure object, and a bone sample with canals partially filled with D2O were used for demonstrating the technique. These samples were imaged with a polychromatic neutron beam followed by phase retrieval. For both samples the signal-to-noise ratios were significantly improved and, in the case of the bone sample, the phase retrieval allowed for separation of bone and D2O, which is important for example for in situ flow experiments. The use of deuteration contrast avoids the use of chemical contrast enhancement and makes neutron imaging an interesting complementary method to X-ray imaging of bone.

Authors

Maja Østergaard, Department of Chemistry and iNANO, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 14, Aarhus, Denmark 

Estrid Buhl Naver, Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej 310, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark,

Anders Kaestner, Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland,  

Peter K. Willendrup, Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej 307, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, European Spallation Source ERIC, PO Box 176, Lund, Sweden,  

Annemarie Brüel, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Allé 3, Aarhus, Denmark,  

Henning Osholm Sørensen, Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej 307, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, Xnovo Technology ApS, Galoche Alle 15, 1, Køge, Denmark,

Jesper Skovhus Thomsen, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Allé 3, Aarhus, Denmark,

Søren Schmidt, European Spallation Source ERIC, PO Box 176, Lund, Sweden, fand gXnovo Technology ApS, Galoche Alle 15, 1, Køge, Denmark,

Henning Friis Poulsen, Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej 307, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark,

Luise Theil Kuhn, Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej 310, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark,

Henrik Birkedal, Department of Chemistry and iNANO, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 14, Aarhus, Denmark

Correspondence e-mail: luku@dtu.dk, hbirkedal@chem.au.dk