Within neutron imaging, different methods have been developed with the aim to go beyond the conventional contrast modalities, such as grating interferometry. Existing grating interferometers are sensitive to scattering in a single direction only, and thus investigations of anisotropic scattering structures imply the need for a circular scan of either the sample or the gratings. Here we propose an approach that allows assessment of anisotropic scattering in a single acquisition mode and to broaden the range of the investigation with respect to the probed correlation lengths. This is achieved by a far-field grating interferometer with a tailored 2D-design. The combination of a directional neutron dark-field imaging approach with a scan of the sample to detector distance yields to the characterization of the local 2D real-space correlation functions of a strongly oriented sample analogous to conventional small-angle scattering. Our results usher in quantitative and spatially resolved investigations of anisotropic and strongly oriented systems beyond current capabilities.

在中子成像中，已经开发了各种方法，目的是超越常规的对比方法，例如光栅干涉仪。现有的光栅干涉仪仅对单个方向的散射敏感，因此对各向异性散射结构的研究意味着需要对样品或光栅进行圆形扫描。在这里，我们提出了一种方法，该方法可以评估单次采集模式下的各向异性散射，并扩大与探测相关长度有关的研究范围。这是通过具有定制2D设计的远场光栅干涉仪实现的。定向中子暗场成像方法与样品到检测器距离的扫描相结合，可以表征类似于常规小角度散射的强取向样品的局部2D实空间相关函数。我们的结果引发了对各向异性和强取向系统超出现有能力的定量和空间分辨研究。