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New Trends in Neutron Instrumentation
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New Trends in Neutron Instrumentation

A special issue of Quantum Beam Science (ISSN 2412-382X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 18367

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Anna Sokolova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, Australia
Interests: small angle neutron scattering instrumentation; data reduction techniques; methods of data analysis; neutron optics trends; management of the instrument constructions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to announce a Special Issue on new trends in neutron instrumentation covering all fields from new development on optic components to data reduction issues. Currently, the worldwide landscape of neutron scattering diffraction and spectrometry facilities is changing dramatically, followed by new trends in the design and performance of the instruments and their components. New technologies have been developed for neutron detectors. Some new ideas have come up in modelling and calculation of complex neutron optics systems and heavy shielding. Data reduction software life cycles along with programs written to control the hardware are an interesting subject to discuss as well; when it comes to dynamics of appearance, world-wide collaborations have co-existed with small facility-specific developments. The standardization of the hardware, including electrical, electronics, and detectors systems, is always a hot topic, and it would be interesting to know opinions from a polar set-up, where control systems are either provided by facilities or left to be managed by supplies. Some new models of management are coming up catalyzed by the appearance of new facilities. At the same time, facilities which are close to the end of their life are facing dramatic changes, including giving away their instruments, which needs to be reflected on.

Dr. Anna Sokolova
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Quantum Beam Science is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Small angle neutron scattering
  • Neutron optics of complex specifications
  • Neutron detectors of non-3He technology
  • Standardization of hardware and firmware: wish, reality or an accident
  • Closing down and new facilities management complication/challenges/principles
  • Hot topic science in various areas of neutron spectroscopy and diffraction: correlation with use of routine and advanced sample environment

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3614 KiB  
Article
A Pulse-Multiplication Proposal for MIRACLES, the Neutron TOF-Backscattering Instrument at the European Spallation Source
by Félix J. Villacorta, Heloisa N. Bordallo and Masatoshi Arai
Quantum Beam Sci. 2021, 5(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/qubs5010002 - 14 Jan 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2796
Abstract
The fixed-energy window scan approach, for both elastic and inelastic modes, is a valuable tool to discriminate between motions activated when dynamical phase transitions occur in a sample as a function of time, temperature, pressure, electrical field or illumination. Considering that, on one [...] Read more.
The fixed-energy window scan approach, for both elastic and inelastic modes, is a valuable tool to discriminate between motions activated when dynamical phase transitions occur in a sample as a function of time, temperature, pressure, electrical field or illumination. Considering that, on one hand, such variations can generate a weak signal, and on the other, high data throughput makes it possible to screen many samples during a beam time, pulse multiplication is an ideal strategy to optimize the intensity of the analyzed signal. To ensure this capability, a proposal for a future upgrade of MIRACLES, the neutron time-of-flight backscattering spectrometer at the European Spallation Source (ESS) under construction in Lund, is reported in this article. The concept for a new chopper layout relies on the extraction of several elastic pulses, ensuring an increase in the neutron total elastic intensity hitting the sample. This proposal can be extended to the inelastic counterpart. The premise is to maintain the original beamline layout without modification, either of the guide sections or of the current chopper layout of MIRACLES, thereby guaranteeing that minimal changes and impact will occur during the proposed upgrade. However, this also presents a significant challenge, namely, to achieve an efficient pulse multiplication within the width and the length of the guide and within the rising/decay time of the pulses. With the concept presented here, an increase in elastic intensity by a factor of 2.8 was obtained. This is analogous to performing elastic fixed window (EFW) measurements with an ESS source operating at 14 MW, widening considerably the performance capabilities of MIRACLES. The knowledge generated here is also valuable for the design of scientific instruments for the next generation of low-energy, accelerator-driven neutron sources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Neutron Instrumentation)
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21 pages, 6688 KiB  
Article
Advanced Small-Angle Scattering Instrument Available in the Tokyo Area. Time-Of-Flight, Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Developed on the iMATERIA Diffractometer at the High Intensity Pulsed Neutron Source J-PARC
by Satoshi Koizumi, Yohei Noda, Tomoki Maeda, Takumi Inada, Satoru Ueda, Takako Fujisawa, Hideki Izunome, Robert A. Robinson and Henrich Frielinghaus
Quantum Beam Sci. 2020, 4(4), 42; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/qubs4040042 - 02 Dec 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3745
Abstract
A method of time-of-flight, small-angle neutron scattering (TOF-SANS) has been developed based on the iMATERIA powder diffractometer at BL20, of the Materials and Life Sciences Facility (MLF) at the high-intensity proton accelerator (J-PARC). A large-area detector for SANS, which is composed of triple-layered [...] Read more.
A method of time-of-flight, small-angle neutron scattering (TOF-SANS) has been developed based on the iMATERIA powder diffractometer at BL20, of the Materials and Life Sciences Facility (MLF) at the high-intensity proton accelerator (J-PARC). A large-area detector for SANS, which is composed of triple-layered 3He tube detectors, has a hole at its center in order to release a direct beam behind and to detect ultra-small-angle scattering. As a result, the pulsed-neutron TOF method enables us to perform multiscale observations covering 0.003 < q (Å−1) < 40 (qmax/qmix = 1.3 × 104) and to determine the static structure factor S(q) and/or form factor P(q) under real-time and in-situ conditions. Our challenge, using unique sample accessories of a super-conducting magnet and polarized neutron, is dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) for contrast variation, especially for industrial use. To reinforce conventional SANS measurements with powder materials, grazing-incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) or reflectivity is also available on the iMATERIA instrument. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Neutron Instrumentation)
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9 pages, 1345 KiB  
Article
Automating Analysis of Neutron Scattering Time-of-Flight Single Crystal Phonon Data
by Dmitry Reznik and Irada Ahmadova
Quantum Beam Sci. 2020, 4(4), 41; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/qubs4040041 - 24 Nov 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3022
Abstract
This article introduces software called Phonon Explorer that implements a data mining workflow for large datasets of the neutron scattering function, S(Q, ω), measured on time-of-flight neutron spectrometers. This systematic approach takes advantage of all useful data contained in the dataset. [...] Read more.
This article introduces software called Phonon Explorer that implements a data mining workflow for large datasets of the neutron scattering function, S(Q, ω), measured on time-of-flight neutron spectrometers. This systematic approach takes advantage of all useful data contained in the dataset. It includes finding Brillouin zones where specific phonons have the highest scattering intensity, background subtraction, combining statistics in multiple Brillouin zones, and separating closely spaced phonon peaks. Using the software reduces the time needed to determine phonon dispersions, linewidths, and eigenvectors by more than an order of magnitude. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Neutron Instrumentation)
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12 pages, 3008 KiB  
Article
First Experiment of Spin Contrast Variation Small-Angle Neutron Scattering on the iMATERIA Instrument at J-PARC
by Yohei Noda, Tomoki Maeda, Takayuki Oku, Satoshi Koizumi, Tomomi Masui and Hiroyuki Kishimoto
Quantum Beam Sci. 2020, 4(4), 33; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/qubs4040033 - 25 Sep 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2845
Abstract
Recently, we have developed a novel dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) apparatus with a magnetic field of 7 T and a sample temperature of 1 K. High proton spin polarizations from −84% to 76%, for TEMPO doped polystyrene samples, have been demonstrated. This DNP [...] Read more.
Recently, we have developed a novel dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) apparatus with a magnetic field of 7 T and a sample temperature of 1 K. High proton spin polarizations from −84% to 76%, for TEMPO doped polystyrene samples, have been demonstrated. This DNP apparatus satisfies the simultaneous requirement for quick and easy sample exchange and high DNP performance. On the iMATERIA (BL20) instrument at J-PARC, the first beam experiment using this DNP apparatus has been performed. For this experiment, the beamline was equipped with a supermirror polarizer. The stray magnetic field due to the superconducting magnet for DNP was also evaluated. The stray magnetic field plays an important role for in maintaining the neutron polarization during the transportation from the polarizer to the sample. The small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) profiles of silica-filled rubber under dynamically polarized conditions are presented. By applying our new analytical approach for SANS coherent scattering intensity, neutron polarization (PN) as a function of neutron wavelength was determined. Consequently, for the neutron wavelength, range from 4 Å to 10 Å, |PN| was sufficient for DNP-SANS studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Neutron Instrumentation)
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12 pages, 3959 KiB  
Article
The Large-Area Detector for Small-Angle Neutron Scattering on iMATERIA at J-PARC
by Yohei Noda, Hideki Izunome, Tomoki Maeda, Takumi Inada, Satoru Ueda and Satoshi Koizumi
Quantum Beam Sci. 2020, 4(4), 32; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/qubs4040032 - 23 Sep 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3046
Abstract
An area detector with a central hole structure was built up for small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) on the iMATERIA instrument at Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Linear position-sensitive detector tubes filled with 3He gas were arranged in three layers leaving a [...] Read more.
An area detector with a central hole structure was built up for small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) on the iMATERIA instrument at Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Linear position-sensitive detector tubes filled with 3He gas were arranged in three layers leaving a central hole. As a result of the calibration process, a SANS measurement with wide q-range from 0.007 Å−1 to 4.3 Å−1 was achieved in double-frame operation, supplying neutrons with wavelengths from 1 Å to 10 Å. As a merit of this central hole structure, neutron transmission can be measured simultaneously to reduce experimental time and effort. This is ideal for time-resolved studies, in which the sample transmission can be time-dependent, throughout the whole experiment. Additionally, the data storage system in ‘event mode’ format provides an excellent platform for such time-resolved experiments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Neutron Instrumentation)
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12 pages, 906 KiB  
Article
Accurate Simulation of Neutrons in Less Than One Minute Pt. 2: Sandman—GPU-Accelerated Adjoint Monte-Carlo Sampled Acceptance Diagrams
by Phillip Bentley
Quantum Beam Sci. 2020, 4(2), 24; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/qubs4020024 - 16 Jun 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2189
Abstract
A computational method in the modelling of neutron beams is described that blends neutron acceptance diagrams, GPU-based Monte-Carlo sampling, and a Bayesian approach to efficiency. The resulting code reaches orders of magnitude improvement in performance relative to existing methods. For example, data rates [...] Read more.
A computational method in the modelling of neutron beams is described that blends neutron acceptance diagrams, GPU-based Monte-Carlo sampling, and a Bayesian approach to efficiency. The resulting code reaches orders of magnitude improvement in performance relative to existing methods. For example, data rates similar to world-leading, real instruments can be achieved on a 2017 laptop, generating 10 6 neutrons per second at the sample position of a high-resolution small angle scattering instrument. The method is benchmarked, and is shown to be in agreement with previous work. Finally, the method is demonstrated on a mature instrument design, where a sub-second turnaround in an interactive simulation process allows the rapid exploration of a wide range of options. This results in a doubling of the design performance, at the same time as reducing the hardware cost by 40%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Neutron Instrumentation)
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