Neutron wave interference in experiments with two resonance spin flippers

Neutron resonance spin echo (NRSE) phenomena are investigated. In our exper iments spin precession produced in a classical manner and by neutron resona nce (NR) flippers are combined as two arms of a spin-echo machine. A magnet ic field scan in the classical precession coil reveals a spin echo signal o f the precession produced by the NR arm. The neutron spin-flip probability rho in the NR coils turns out to be a key parameter of the NR arm. The limi ting cases rho = 0 and rho = 1 lead, respectively, to Larmor precession wit h phase phi(1) in the static magnetic fields of the NR flippers or to "zero field" precession with phase phi(2). The case 0 < rho < 1 produces quantum interference patterns with phases phi(3) = (phi(1) + phi(2))/2 and phi(4) = +/- (phi(1) - phi(2))/2. The amplitude of each pattern depends on rho, an d on the initial polarization. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.