Soft Matter Dynamics with Neutron Spin Echo Spectroscopy at the Spallation Neutron Source

Neutron spin echo spectroscopy is one of the most powerful techniques to study the dynamics of soft matter [1]. The SNS-NSE instrument [2] at the Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the first, and to date the only one, instrument for high resolution NSE spectroscopy installed at a pulsed neutron source. The main advantage of the pulsed source NSE is the ability to resolve the neutron wavelength and collect neutrons over a wider bandwidth. This allows one to determine S(Q,t) on a flexibly chosen quasi continuous [Q,t] grid that can be selected a posteriori, trading statistical error with grid resolution.

We will show the capabilities of the SNS-NSE instrument and examples of soft matter experiments that have been performed using the SNS-NSE instrument. We will also present a new data reduction software called DrSPINE [3] that is capable to utilize all the available information contained in a series of experiments consistently in one step to yield a comprehensive representation of the intermediate scattering function S(Q,t).

References:
[1] M. Monkenbusch, D. Richter, C. R. Physique 8 (2007) 845
[2] M. Ohl et al., Nucl. Inst. and Meth. A 696 (2012) 85-99
[3] P.A. Zolnierczuk et al. J. Appl. Cryst. (2019). 52, 1022-1034