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3D Spatially Resolved Neutron Diffraction from a Disordered Vortex Lattice

The vortex matter in bulk type-II superconductors serves as a prototype system for studying the random pinning problem in condensed matter physics. Since the vortex lattice is embedded in an atomic lattice, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) is the only technique that allows for direct structural studies. In traditional SANS methods, the scattering intensity is a measure of the structure factor averaged over the entire sample. Recent studies in vortex physics have shown that it is highly desirable to develop a SANS technique which is capable of resolving the spatial inhomogeneities in the bulk vortex state. Here we report a novel slicing neutron diffraction technique using atypical collimation and an areal detector which allows for observing the three dimensional (3D) disorder of the vortex matter inside an as-grown Nb single crystal.