On coherence in neutron imaging

The variety of imaging signals in neutron radiography and tomography became quite large compared to the pure absorption and scattering contrast in neutron radiographies and topographies in the early sixties or seventies of the last century. The diversity of absorption based techniques for neutron radiography and tomography is comparable to coherence based imaging techniques such as phase contrast, differential phase contrast, dark field imaging, diffraction enhanced contrast, refraction contrast, ultra small angle scattering contrast, grating interferometry and crystal interferometry, also the spin of the neutron was successfully used for imaging [1–12]. We show which effects (total reflection, diffraction, refraction) contribute to e.g. a step boundary or a phase boundary. Taking this simple object, one can learn to understand the imaging procedure and what is displayed in a radiograph.