Abstract
This work describes two methods to fit the inelastic neutron-scattering spectrum S(q, ω) with wavevector q and frequency ω. The common and well-established method extracts the experimental spin-wave branches ω n (q) from the measured spectra S(q, ω) and then minimizes the difference between the observed and predicted frequencies. When n branches of frequencies are predicted but the measured frequencies overlap to produce only m < n branches, the weighted average of the predicted frequencies must be compared to the observed frequencies. A penalty is then exacted when the width of the predicted frequencies exceeds the width of the observed frequencies. The second method directly compares the measured and predicted intensities S(q, ω) over a grid {q i , ω j } in wavevector and frequency space. After subtracting background noise from the observed intensities, the theoretical intensities are scaled by a simple wavevector-dependent function that reflects the instrumental resolution. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach are demonstrated by studying the open honeycomb material Tb2Ir3Ga9.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 135804 |
Journal | Journal of Physics Condensed Matter |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 30 2022 |
Funding
While the HORACE and SPINW software packages [, ] can be used to analyze S( q , ω) for time-of-flight instruments, they cannot perform the type of analysis described in this paper for method 2. RSF acknowledges useful conversations with Khan and Mitchell. Research sponsored by the Laboratory Directors Fund of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (RSF and FY). The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Keywords
- data analysis
- inelastic scattering
- neutron scattering