Neutron diffraction from holographic gratings in PMMA

Abstract In most photorefractive materials light-induced refractive index changes are accompanied by changes of the density of the material. Hence, gratings capable to diffract cold neutrons can be produced by standard holographic techniques. We compare measurements on the angular dependence of the diffraction efficiency with calculations. The conclusions are used to improve the time resolution of neutron diffraction experiments aiming at an investigation of the development process of holographic gratings in PMMA.