Magnetic Bragg dip and Bragg edge in neutron transmission spectra of typical spin superstructures

Abstract

Neutron diffractometry has been a critical tool for clarifying spin structures. In contrast, little attention has been paid to neutron transmission spectroscopy, even though they are different types of the same phenomenon. Soon, it will be possible to measure the wavelength dependence of transmissions easily using accelerator-driven neutron facilities. Therefore, we have started studying the potential of spectroscopy in magnetism, and in this paper, we report the first observation of a magnetic Bragg dip and Bragg edge in the neutron transmission spectra of a typical spin superstructure; clear antiferromagnetic Bragg dips and Bragg edges are found for a single crystal and powder of nickel oxide, respectively. The obtained results show that transmission spectroscopy is a promising tool for measurements under multi-extreme conditions and for the precise analyses of spin structures, not only in MW-class pulsed spallation source facilities but also in compact neutron source facilities.