Polarized neutron channeling in weakly magnetic films

Abstract

We describe a new sensitive method for the investigation of weakly magnetic films placed inside a tri-layer planar waveguide. Polarized neutrons tunnel into the waveguide through the surface, channel along the layers and are emitted from the end face as a narrow and slightly divergent microbeam. Polarization analysis permits to detect very small magnetization in the order of a few 10 Gauss. The magnetic film containing the rare-earth element Tb was investigated using both fixed wavelength and time-of-flight polarized neutron reflectometers. The experimental results are presented and discussed.