SANS
YS-SANS – Small Angle Neutron Scattering Instrument - "Yellow Submarine"
Instrument responsibles: László Almásy, Adél Len, Renáta Ünnep
Contact: sans-ys@bnc.hu
Video introduction (short, longer)
Instrument description: The SANS diffractometer Yellow Submarine covers a Q-range of 0.005 to 0.40 Å-1. It has a wide range of applications from studies of defects and precipitates in materials, alloy segregation, surfactant and colloid solutions, ferromagnetics, magnetic correlations, polymers, proteins and biological membranes alike. The instrument is installed on the curved neutron guide No.10/2, with a 40x40 mm2 cross-section, made of (m=1.5) supermirrors. The beam is monochromatized by a multidisc type velocity selector, (L. Rosta: Physica B 174 (1991) 562) the rotation speed can be tuned between 700 and 7000 rot/min (wavelengths between 3 and 12 Å). The width Δλ/λ of the transmitted wavelength distribution can be varied between 12% and 30% by changing the tilt angle between the selector axis and the direction of the neutron beam. The collimation distance is 5 m.
SANS schedule: http://www.kfki.hu/~sans/schedule.htm
Sample environment
In most experiments an automatic sample changer is used with 6 sample positions. Sample temperatures can be controlled from an external bath between 10°C and 90°C. For ambient temperature SANS a 11-position sample changer can be used. A liquid nitrogen cryostat, and a closed cycle refrigerator is available for 10K-300K experiemnts. An electromagnet of up to a magnetic field 1.6T at a pole distance of 25mm can also be mounted on the sample table, with a vertical automatic sample changer with 9 sample positions.
Detector
The scattered neutrons are detected by a 64 x 64 pixels (1cm x 1cm pixel size) two-dimensional position sensitive LETI (Grenoble, France) detector filled with BF3 gas.
Data acquisition, data evaluation
The control and data acquisition electronics has been made by Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, Saclay, France, and ANTE Ltd., Budapest, Hungary, with in-house data acquisition software. You are welcome to dowload and use HWXY, a 2D SANS data treatment program, written by G. Pépy.
Main characteristics of SANS-YS:
| Beam tube: | Cold neutron guide No.10/2/1 |
| Monochromator: | Multidisk velocity selector |
| Detector: | 2D position sensitive, 64x64 cm2, filled with BF3 gas |
| Collimations: | 5 m |
| Flux at the guide exit: | 5 x 107 n/cm2/sec |
| Sample-to-detector distance: | Continuously adjustable between 1 m and 5.5 m |
| Incident wavelength: | 3 - 12 Å |
| Wavelength spread: | Adjustable between 12 - 30 % |
Figure 1. Layout of the SANS diffractometer "Yellow Submarine"