The multi-slit very small angle neutron scattering instrument at the China Spallation Neutron Source

Taisen Zuo; Zehua Han; Changli Ma; Songwen Xiao; Xiong Lin; Yuqing Li; Fangwei Wang; Yongcheng He; Zhenqiang He; Junsong Zhang; Guangyuan Wang; He Cheng

doi:10.1107/S1600576724000815

The multi-slit very small angle neutron scattering instrument at the China Spallation Neutron Source

J Appl Crystallogr. 2024 Mar 21;57(Pt 2):380-391. doi: 10.1107/S1600576724000815. eCollection 2024 Apr 1.

Authors

Taisen Zuo^{1

2}, Zehua Han^{1

2}, Changli Ma^{1

2}, Songwen Xiao^{1

2}, Xiong Lin^{1

2}, Yuqing Li^{1

2

3}, Fangwei Wang^{1

2

4}, Yongcheng He^{1

2}, Zhenqiang He^{1

2}, Junsong Zhang^{1

2}, Guangyuan Wang^{1

2}, He Cheng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Spallation Neutron Source Science Center, Dongguan, 523803, People's Republic of China.
² Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), Beijing, 100049, People's Republic of China.
³ School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

A multi-slit very small angle neutron scattering (MS-VSANS) instrument has been finally accepted at the China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS). It is the first spallation neutron source based VSANS instrument. MS-VSANS has a good signal-to-noise ratio and can cover a wide scattering vector magnitude range from 0.00028 to 1.4 Å^-1. In its primary flight path, a combined curved multichannel beam bender and sections of rotary exchange drums are installed to minimize the background downstream of the instrument. An exchangeable multi-slit beam focusing system is integrated into the primary flight path, enabling access to a minimum scattering vector magnitude of 0.00028 Å^-1. MS-VSANS has three modes, namely conventional SANS, polarizing SANS and VSANS modes. In the SANS mode, three motorized high-efficiency ³He tube detectors inside the detector tank cover scattering angles from 0.12 to 35° simultaneously. In the polarizing SANS mode, a double-V cavity provides highly polarized neutrons and a high-efficiency ³He polarization analyser allows full polarization analysis. In the VSANS mode, an innovative high-resolution gas electron multiplier detector covers scattering angles from 0.016 to 0.447°. The absolute scattering intensities of a selection of standard samples are obtained using the direct-beam technique; the effectiveness of this method is verified by testing the standard samples and comparing the results with those from a benchmark instrument. The MS-VSANS instrument is designed to be flexible and versatile and all the design goals have been achieved.

Keywords: MS-VSANS; absolute intensity; multi-slit very small angle neutron scattering instrument; neutron focusing; polarized neutrons; spallation neutron sources.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Very Small Angle Neutron Scattering Instrument Project, supported by the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province, Guangdong Natural Science Foundation, National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 22273046).