title: Colossal light-induced refractive-index modulation for neutrons in holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystals.
abstract: We report strong diffraction of cold neutrons from an only 30 micro m thick holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) transmission grating. The light-induced refractive-index modulation for neutrons is about 10(-6), i.e., nearly 2 orders of magnitude larger than in the best photo-neutron-refractive materials probed up to now. This makes H-PDLCs a promising candidate for fabricating neutron-optical devices.
authors.affiliation: Nonlinear Physics Group, Faculty of Physics, Universität Wien, Boltzmanngasse 5, Wien, Austria. Martin.Fally@univie.ac.at
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fally
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Drevensek-Olenik
authors.forename: Mostafa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ellabban
authors.forename: Klaus P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Pranzas
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vollbrandt