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