# Super-resolution energy spectra from neutron direct-geometry spectrometers

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a super-resolution technique adapted from optical imagery to enhance energy spectra resolution in neutron spectroscopy, achieving approximately five times better resolution and noise reduction in phonon density of states measurements.

## Contribution

It presents a novel application of super-resolution imaging methods to neutron spectroscopy, improving energy resolution and noise reduction in phonon density of states data.

## Key findings

- Achieved ~5-fold improvement in energy resolution.
- Enhanced contrast and reduced noise in spectra.
- Validated method on graphite sample data.

## Abstract

Neutron direct-geometry time-of-flight chopper spectroscopy is instrumental in studying fundamental excitations of vibrational and/or magnetic origin. We report here that techniques in super-resolution optical imagery (which is in real-space) can be adapted to enhance resolution and reduce noise for a neutron spectroscopy (an instrument for mapping excitations in reciprocal space). The procedure to reconstruct super-resolution energy spectra of phonon density of states relies on a realization of multi-frame registration, accurate determination of the energy-dependent point spread function, asymmetric nature of instrument resolution broadening, and iterative reconstructions. Applying these methods to phonon density of states data for a graphite sample demonstrates contrast enhancement, noise reduction, and ~5-fold improvement over nominal energy resolution. The data were collected at three different incident energies measured at the Wide Angular-Range Chopper Spectrometer at the Spallation Neutron Source.