Technical Specification of the Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Instrument SKADI at the European Spallation Source

Small-K Advanced DIffractometer (SKADI is a Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) instrument to be constructed at the European Spallation Source (ESS). SANS instruments allow investigations of the structure of materials in the size regime between Angstroms up to micrometers. As very versatile instruments, they usually cater to the scientific needs of communities, such as chemists, biologists, and physicists, ranging from material and food sciences to archeology. They can offer analysis of the micro- and mesoscopic structure of the samples, as well as an analysis of the spin states in the samples, for example, for magnetic samples. SKADI, as a broad range instrument, thus offers features, such as an extremely flexible space for the sample environment, to accommodate a wide range of experiments, high-flux, and optimized detector-collimation system to allow for an excellent resolution of the sample structure, short measurement times to be able to record the internal kinetics during a transition in the sample, as well as polarized neutron scattering. In this manuscript, we describe the final design for the construction of SKADI. All of the features and capabilities presented here are projected to be included into the final instrument when going into operation phase.

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Triple Isotopic Substitution Method in Small-Angle Neutron Scattering: Application to Some Problems of Structural Biology

Journal of Applied Crystallography ◽

10.1107/s0021889897002872 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 30 (5) ◽

pp. 787-791 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

I. N. Serdyuk ◽

G. Zaccaï

Keyword(s):

Neutron Scattering ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Structural Data ◽

Necessary Condition ◽

Isotopic Substitution ◽

Deuterium Label ◽

Geometrical Properties ◽

Wide Range ◽

Structural Methods

The triple isotopic substitution (TIS) method is based on the analysis of a scattering curve which is the difference between the scattering of two solutions containing appropriately deuterium-labelled particles. A necessary condition for the application of the method is that the two solutions are identical in all respects except for the extent of the deuterium label. Such an experimental scheme has allowed a number of unique physical experiments to be performed, the main ones being: (1) elimination of the contribution of the interparticle interference; (2) addition of both small- and large-sized foreign particles to those studied without distortions of the structural data; (3) highlighting of individual (quite small) regions in the molecules; (4) suppression of the dimerization contribution to the scattering curve. The application of this method is of special interest for studying the mutual three-dimensional disposition of individual small regions of molecules (3D mapping) and for investigating the geometrical properties of the surfaces of globular proteins. It is evident that TIS has a wide range of experimental possibilities, demonstrating that small-angle neutron scattering is one of the most informative structural methods for low resolution.

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Concept for a time-of-flight Small Angle Neutron Scattering instrument at the European Spallation Source

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment ◽

10.1016/j.nima.2014.04.024 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 762 ◽

pp. 22-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

S. Jaksch ◽

D. Martin-Rodriguez ◽

A. Ostermann ◽

J. Jestin ◽

S. Duarte Pinto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neutron Scattering ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Time Of Flight ◽

Spallation Source

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Study of a multi-pinhole collimation system based small-angle neutron scattering instrument at the Compact Pulsed Hadron Source

Journal of Applied Crystallography ◽

10.1107/s1600576718013730 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 51 (6) ◽

pp. 1605-1615

Author(s):

Zhiyuan Wang ◽

Huarui Wu ◽

Liang Chen ◽

Liangwei Sun ◽

Xuewu Wang

Keyword(s):

Neutron Scattering ◽

Sample Size ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Safety Margin ◽

Beam Intensity ◽

Opening Angle ◽

Collimation System ◽

Sans Instrument

The neutron flux of the Compact Pulsed Hadron Source (CPHS) is about 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than that of large neutron sources, which means that the beam intensity should be improved to achieve good statistics. Multi-pinhole collimation can be used to obtain a lower Q with an acceptable beam intensity in a very small angle neutron scattering (VSANS) instrument and a higher beam intensity for a larger sample size in a small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument. A new nine-pinhole structure is used in a SANS instrument at CPHS to achieve an acceptable range and resolution of Q and a higher beam intensity compared to single-pinhole collimation. The crosstalk issue associated with multi-pinhole collimation is addressed using an optimized algorithm to achieve a higher safety margin and a larger pinhole size with a higher beam intensity at the sample. Different collimator aperture structures are compared on the basis of their noise production. Experiments are performed to verify the theory of calculating reflection noise from the inner surface of the collimator's aperture and parasitic noise from the beveled collimator structure. From a simulated SANS experiment using cold neutrons in the SANS instrument, it is clarified that multi-pinhole collimators with an opening angle on the downstream side have better performance than those with an opening angle on the upstream side and straight-cut collimators. Compared with a single-pinhole collimation system, a nine-pinhole collimation system increases the intensity at the sample by approximately sevenfold when the sample size is increased by 20-fold for CPHS-SANS, and the signal-to-noise ratio is improved by exploiting a specific collimator aperture structure. Our goal is to install a multi-pinhole collimator based SANS instrument at CPHS in the future, and it is hoped that these results will serve to promote the utilization of multi-pinhole collimation systems at other facilities.

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Mesoscopic structure observation of egg white gel by small angle neutron scattering

Physica B Condensed Matter ◽

10.1016/s0921-4526(97)00775-8 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 241-243 ◽

pp. 987-989

Author(s):

N. Hiramatsu ◽

A. Nakamura ◽

M. Sugiyama ◽

K. Hara ◽

Y. Maeda

Keyword(s):

Neutron Scattering ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Egg White ◽

Mesoscopic Structure ◽

Structure Observation

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Detector rates for the Small Angle Neutron Scattering instruments at the European Spallation Source

Journal of Instrumentation ◽

10.1088/1748-0221/13/07/p07016 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (07) ◽

pp. P07016-P07016 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

K. Kanaki ◽

M. Klausz ◽

T. Kittelmann ◽

G. Albani ◽

E. Perelli Cippo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neutron Scattering ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Spallation Source

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Performance and characteristics of the BILBY time-of-flight small-angle neutron scattering instrument

Journal of Applied Crystallography ◽

10.1107/s1600576718018009 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 52 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Anna Sokolova ◽

Andrew E. Whitten ◽

Liliana de Campo ◽

Jason Christoforidis ◽

Andrew Eltobaji ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neutron Scattering ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Materials Science ◽

Time Of Flight ◽

Nuclear Science ◽

Scientific Disciplines ◽

Wide Range ◽

Wavelength Resolution ◽

Reference Samples

BILBY is a recently constructed and commissioned time-of-flight small-angle neutron scattering instrument, operated by the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). BILBY provides a wide accessible q range (q ≃ 1.0 × 10−3 Å−1 to ∼1.8 Å−1) and variable wavelength resolution (Δλ/λ ≃ 3–30%) to complement the other small-angle and ultra-small-angle neutron scattering capabilities available at ANSTO. Since its construction, BILBY has been used to study samples from a wide range of scientific disciplines, including biology, chemistry, physics and materials science. This article describes the BILBY design and components, and shows data collected from a number of reference samples.

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Flexible Sample Environment for the Investigation of Soft Matter at the European Spallation Source: Part II—The GISANS Setup

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11094036 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 4036

Author(s):

Tobias Widmann ◽

Lucas P. Kreuzer ◽

Matthias Kühnhammer ◽

Andreas J. Schmid ◽

Lars Wiehemeier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neutron Scattering ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Soft Matter ◽

Gas Flow ◽

Ambient Conditions ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Solvent Vapor ◽

Spallation Source ◽

Sample Environment

The FlexiProb project is a joint effort of three soft matter groups at the Universities of Bielefeld, Darmstadt, and Munich with scientific support from the European Spallation Source (ESS), the small-K advanced diffractometer (SKADI) beamline development group of the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS), and the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ). Within this framework, a flexible and quickly interchangeable sample carrier system for small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) at the ESS was developed. In the present contribution, the development of a sample environment for the investigation of soft matter thin films with grazing-incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) is introduced. Therefore, components were assembled on an optical breadboard for the measurement of thin film samples under controlled ambient conditions, with adjustable temperature and humidity, as well as the optional in situ recording of the film thickness via spectral reflectance. Samples were placed in a 3D-printed spherical humidity metal chamber, which enabled the accurate control of experimental conditions via water-heated channels within its walls. A separately heated gas flow stream supplied an adjustable flow of dry or saturated solvent vapor. First test experiments proved the concept of the setup and respective component functionality.

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On the design and experimental realization of a multislit-based very small angle neutron scattering instrument at the European Spallation Source

Journal of Applied Crystallography ◽

10.1107/s1600576715012273 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 1242-1253 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sohrab Abbas ◽

Sylvain Désert ◽

Annie Brûlet ◽

Vincent Thevenot ◽

Patrice Permingeat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neutron Scattering ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Feasibility Studies ◽

Experimental Realization ◽

Order Of Magnitude ◽

Spallation Source ◽

Length Scaling ◽

First Time ◽

Sans Instrument

This article reports the design of a versatile multislit-based very small angle neutron scattering (VSANS) instrument working either as a dedicated instrument or as an add-on for any small-angle neutron scattering machine like the proposed SANS instrument, SKADI, at the future European Spallation Source. The use of multiple slits as a VSANS collimator for the time-of-flight techniques has been validated usingMcStassimulations. Various instrument configurations to achieve different minimum wavevector transfers in scattering experiments are proposed. The flexibility of the multislit VSANS instrument concept is demonstrated by showing the possibility of instrument length scaling for the first time, allowing access to varying minimum wavevector transfers with the same multislit setup. These options can provide smooth access to minimum wavevector transfers lower than ∼4 × 10−5 Å−1and an overlapping of wavevector coverage with normal SANS mode,e.g.with the SKADI wavevector range of 10−3–1.1 Å−1. Such an angularly well defined and intense neutron beam will allow faster SANS studies of objects larger than 1 µm. Calculations have also been carried out for a radial collimator as an alternative to the multislit collimator setup. This extends the SANSQrange by an order of magnitude to 1 × 10−4 Å−1with much simpler alignment. The multislit idea has been realized experimentally by building a prototype at Laboratoire Leon Brillouin, Saclay, with cross-talk-free geometry. Feasibility studies were carried out by making VSANS measurements with single- and multislit collimators, and the results are compared with multiple-pinhole geometry using classical SANS analysis tools.

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A Three-phase Model for the Structure of Porous Thin Films Determined by X-ray Reflectivity and Small-Angle Neutron Scattering

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-612-d5.22.1 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 612 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Wen-li Wu ◽

Eric K. Lin ◽

Changming Jin ◽

Jeffrey T. Wetzel

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Neutron Scattering ◽

Small Angle ◽

Small Angle Neutron Scattering ◽

Coefficient Of Thermal Expansion ◽

Average Pore Size ◽

Silicon Substrates ◽

Average Pore ◽

X Ray ◽

Wide Range

AbstractA methodology to characterize nanoporous thin films based on a novel combination of high-resolution specular x-ray reflectivity and small-angle neutron scattering has been advanced to accommodate heterogeneities within the material surrounding nanoscale voids. More specifically, the average pore size, pore connectivity, film thickness, wall or matrix density, coefficient of thermal expansion, and moisture uptake of nanoporous thin films with non-homogeneous solid matrices can be measured. The measurements can be performed directly on films up to 1.5 µm thick while supported on silicon substrates. This method has been successfully applied to a wide range of industrially developed materials for use as low-k interlayer dielectrics.

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