Microplastics, defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 mm, are a grave concern due to their accumulation in marine and terrestrial environments, posing significant ecological and health risks and potential to enter the food chain. Various strategies are being employed to combat this issue, including filtration, bioremediation, coagulation, and flocculation [1-3]. Herein, we have developed...
The single-crystal diffractometer HEiDi at MLZ has been designed for a wide range of scientific applications, offering a broad spectrum of thermal and hot neutrons, excellent resolution, access to a large region of reciprocal space, low absorption and high sensitivity for light elements. This makes HEiDi a versatile tool for extended studies on many structures for nowadays topics in physics,...
Background from sample environment may be a relatively important issue in the measurements with small and low scattering samples. It can be present in the form of sharp peaks as a function of nominal energy transfer E and scattering wave vector Q. The intensity of this parasitic intensity can be well comparable to the measured inelastic signal. The main reason for this complex Q-E structure of...
Neutron and X-ray scattering experiments provide valuable insights into the nanoscopic properties of matter, a scale that is also accessible through Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. If the simulations reproduce the experiments, they can give greater insight into the material properties on the nanoscopic scale than traditional data analysis methods. However, existing MD forcefields are...
Calibrating the neutron optical path of EMD is a complicated process. To enhance the measurement accuracy of residual stress, it is required that the neutron beamline, sample stage rotation center axis, and radial collimators’ focal points are all focused on the center of the gauge volume defined as the scattering center. Initially, a high-precision laser tracker is used to position the...
Infrared spectroscopy serves as local probe reporting on specific vibrations in some side chains which are spectrally distant from the complicated infrared spectrum of a protein in solution. But it can also serve as a global probe using the coupling of the amide I or amide II vibrations of the protein backbone. Here, infrared spectroscopy can give information on the fold of the protein and...
Complex perovskite La2(Al1/2MgTa1/2)O6 (LAMT) crystallizes in a monoclinic unit cell with space group P21/n at room temperature. Due to little scattering contrast between the neighbouring elements Mg and Al of the periodic table, conventional X-rays could not properly resolve the mixed occupation on the B-site. Hence, complementary neutron powder diffraction studies were carried out to verify...
The High Brilliance Neutron Source (HBS) [1] project aims to develop a High-Current Accelerator-driven Neutron Source (HiCANS) for neutron scattering, analytics, and imaging. It will feature several cold neutron sources, including a liquid para-hydrogen moderator. At the Forschungszentrum Jülich, time-of-flight measurements were performed with the prototype of such a cryogenic moderator for...
Focusing on the prominent technique of neutron diffraction for phase identification, the principal goal is to autonomously identify the presence of different crystalline phases such as: Al2O3, LiAlH4, TiO2, ZnS, etc., efficiently and without being dependent on a reference database. Although deep learning approaches require high amount of training data, they only use the learned weights and...
High-Current Accelerator-driven Neutron Sources (HiCANS) are seen as the next-generation medium sized neutron sources working in the same league as the shut down BER II reactor in Berlin or ORPHÉE reactor in Saclay. In Germany, the Jülich High Brilliance neutron Source (HBS) has been developed at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ) and has been published in a technical design report in 2023 [1]...
The boron based multi stage tracking detector (BASTARD) is a neutron detector with high spatial resolution and high rate capability.
It consists of a multi layer gaseous detector with a boron coated cathode for neutron conversion.
The boron captures the neutrons and decays into helium and lithium ions.
The Ions are detected with the GEM based anode, giving a position resolution of 100...
The scientific objective of this project is to craft a modular sample environment that facilitates the utilization of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), a potent technique for probing the mesoscopic structural intricacies of soft matter systems amidst non-equilibrium conditions. Moreover, the design of the sample environment should enable the integration of spectroscopic measurements, such...
Kinetic-quantum-sieving-assisted H2:D2 separation in flexible porous materials is more effective than the currently used energy-intensive cryogenic distillation and girdle-sulfide processes for isotope separation. It is believed that material flexibility results in a pore-breathing phenomenon under the influence of external stimuli, which helps in adjusting the pore size and gives rise to the...
DAPHNE4NFDI is a consortium within the Nationale Forschungsdaten Infrastuktur (NFDI) in Germany, dedicated to the development of data management tools and best practices for research data from Photon and Neutron (PaN) sources. One of the tasks of the consortium is centered around data and metadata capture during the experiment with the aim to develop the FAIRness (Findability, Accessibility,...
In recent years, RFeO3 systems have gained significant interest because of antiferromagnetic ordering correlation with next-generation high-density and high-speed magnonics applications [1, 2]. DyFeO3 is the first orthoferrite among the RFeO3 family to possess an incommensurate magnetic order of the rare earth sublattice under zero field conditions [3]. In DyFeO3 crystal system, there exist...
This comprehensive study delves into the complex magnetic properties and interactions of the perovskite-like compound CaCu$_3$Ti$_4$O$_{12}$, employing advanced neutron diffraction and spectroscopy to explore the underlying spin-orbital coupling and single-ion anisotropy. By synthesizing high-quality single crystals and utilizing a four-circle neutron diffractometer, we capture sufficient...
Barocaloric refrigeration leverages the adiabatic temperature and isothermal entropy changes of materials under external hydrostatic pressure, presenting a promising energy-efficient and eco-friendly refrigeration technology. Among the materials considered for barocaloric applications, Spin Crossover (SCO) compounds have recently gained attention due to their unique properties.
SCO...
We present a combined first principle-based molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations and experimental study of Al-Fe melts. Measurements were performed using quasi elastic neutron scatting (QENS) to obtain the self-diffusion coefficients of Fe at different Al-Fe compositions as a function of temperature.
A persistent challenge for the inelastic neutron scattering technique is the low scattering cross-section of neutrons, necessitating larger sample sizes compared to other techniques. Focusing the neutron beam is a viable method to increase the flux reaching the sample. However, previous techniques have limitations concerning beam size and quality or require positioning excessively close to the...
A Quenching and Deformation Dilatometer (TA instruments DIL805A/D/T) operates at the MLZ for performing in-situ neutron diffraction (phase, texture, stress/strain) at STRESS-SPEC and small-angle neutron scattering (nanostructure) at SANS-1. A similar instrument operates at beamline P07 HEMS (DESY) for in-situ x-ray scattering studies. The combination of the scattering and dilatometry...
The instrument ERWIN, currently being assembled at the MLZ, is a high-efficiency diffractometer designed for rapid data collection, time-resolved measurements, parametric studies and investigations on small samples. ERWIN is characterized by a large two-dimensional wire chamber detector with a virtually seamless coverage of 135° and a vertical angle range of 15° which will allow the...
One of the most promising cases of magnetic hyperthermia is using magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in cancer therapy. In this treatment, MNPs are immersed into tumours and, by heating with external magnetic fields, typically 100-900 kHz, destroy cancer cells. Since it is a clinical application, optimising field parameters and, in turn, the heating power is crucial to maintain both safety and high...
Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are promising nano-vehicles for biomedical applications such as drug delivery, imaging, and magnetic hyperthermia. However, one of the limitations of these systems is their tendency to agglomerate, which has a direct impact on the efficiency of their performance. One way to overcome this limitation is to apply a coating during synthesis. In...
The current trend of usage of fossil fuels to satisfy the ever-growing energy demand is expected to cause an irreversible increase in temperature. Alternative fuels like hydrogen can be a solution to this problem due to its high gravimetric energy density.
However, the low volumetric density of hydrogen in gas and liquid phases incurs problems related to storage [[C.Pistidda][1]]. In this...
The complex interplay in 4d-5d based heterostructure thin films is a prominent topic in contemporary spintronics, particularly for the development of magnetic skyrmions within ultra-thin oxide films. For the stabilization of magnetic skyrmions, heterostructures must exhibit coexisting electron-electron correlations, large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), interfacial...
Waterborne latex films, obtained from the dispersion of latex particles are of particular interest due to the non-content of volatile organic compounds (VOC), often mandatory under environmental legislation (Konko et al. Langmuir. 2019, 35, 6075). However, abrupt water penetration inside the films restricting their lifespan and deteriorating the shining of the coating. In order to prepare...
Li-ion batteries as energy storage devices play a significant role in the global agenda to mitigate emissions, move to sustainable energy sources, and fight climate change. In recent years, new battery formats have emerged intending to increase energy. Moving from the conventional cylindrical 18650 design to the 21700 format can achieve higher energy content per cell.[1] These batteries are...
Heterostructures (HS) composed of conventional superconductors (SC) and ferromagnets (FM) reveal intriguing effects resulting from the interaction and proximity of these two opposing phases of matter. Our interest is focused on proximity effects in HS based on high critical temperature (T$_c$) SC and FM with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, particularly oxides. SrRuO$_3$ (SRO) emerges as a...
KOMPASS is a polarized cold-neutron three axes spectrometer (TAS) currently undergoing its final construction phase at the MLZ in Garching. The instrument is designed to exclusively work with polarized neutrons and optimized for zero-field spherical neutron polarization analysis for measuring all elements of the polarization matrix. In contrast to other TASs, KOMPASS is equipped with a unique...
KWS-1 is a small-angle scattering instrument with variable wavelength resolution dedicated to experiments with polarised neutrons and polarisation analysis [1].
The instrument commences with a velocity selector positioned in the middle of the "S-shaped" neutron guide, approximately 16 meters away from the collimation line. The neutron flux is monitored both before and after the selector....
The mullite-type PbMnBO4 and PbFeBO4 phases have been considered as excellent playground to follow the Goodenough–Kanamori–Anderson spin rules to understand the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM) microscopic features. We report inelastic neutron scatterings (INS) of PbFeBO4, PbMnBO4 and Pb(Fe0.5Mn0.5)BO4 powder samples between 1.5 K and 520 K. The Stokes and anti-Stokes spectra are...
Determining an unknown crystal structure from powder diffraction may be considered an ill-defined problem that requires experienced users to make strategic choices. Therefore, investigating the viability of the Machine Learning (ML) models for inferring structural information from powder-diffraction patterns is a highly coveted goal. Due to the limited availability of labeled experimental...
Para-hydrogen has very different mean free paths for thermal neutrons (ca. 1 cm) and cold neutrons (ca. 10 cm). This unique feature makes it possible to design and construct low-dimensional moderators which are elongated along the cold neutron extraction direction(s) but compact along the thermal neutron feeding directions. The small luminous surface together with the directed emission of cold...
Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) is one of the most important techniques for microstructure determination, which is used in a wide range of scientific disciplines such as materials science, physics, chemistry, and biology. Conventional SAS can probe microstructural (density and composition) inhomogeneities in the bulk and on a mesoscopic length scale between a few and a few hundred...
One of the most promising medical applications of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) is cancer therapy through magnetic hyperthermia and externally controlled drug delivery. The latter could be achieved by a phase transition of lipid nanoparticles with embedded iron oxide nanoparticles, as demonstrated in [1,2]. In such systems, external high-frequency magnetic fields can generate the heat required...
We have investigated the magnetic microstructure of two-phase Fe-Nb-B based Nanoperm alloys using unpolarized small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Our SANS analysis reveals a significantly large magnetic scattering contribution due to spin misalignment, primarily originating from the substantial jump in the longitudinal magnetization at the interfaces...
Rare earth orthoferrites, RFeO$_3$ (R = rare earth element), have been model systems for studies and theoretical considerations of magnetic structures since the 1960s [Whi69, Mar70, Ber68]. They have regained considerable interest in the last decade due to their complex multiferroic and magnetocaloric properties, which make them potential candidates for modern applications, e.g. in the field...
With extremely high elastic modulus, super strength, outstanding thermal and electrical properties, Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are considered as one of the most potential reinforcements for composites. Our studies indicate that hybrid Mg MMCs, reinforced with SiCp and CNTs, have shown superior tensile properties. This is mainly attributed to the addition of CNTs to SiCp with CVD method.
In this...
The world transitions toward sustainable energy sources. In this context, hydrogen plays a key role.$^{[1]}$ Efficient storage and release of hydrogen are essential for its practical application in various fields, including fuel cells and transportable energy storage systems.$^{[2]}$ Here, energy transport and storage via liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) systems is a significant...
Grazing Incidence Small Angle Neutron Scattering (GISANS) and Polarized Neutron Reflectivity (PNR) are employed in this study to investigate the structural and magnetic properties of magnetic multilayers deposited onto highly ordered nanosphere arrays. The multilayers, composed of (Co/Pd) multilayers with different numbers of repeats, were deposited using Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) on a flat...
We present a neutron-sensitive MicroChannel Plate (MCP) detector integrated with a Timepix3 readout system. This study aims to combine the high gain and low background noise of the MCP with the excellent time and position resolution of the Timepix3. The MCP is doped with boron-10, which captures neutrons and decays into lithium ions and alpha particles. Within the microchannels, these charged...
Polarized neutron diffraction is a powerful tool for studying magnetic structure and to probe the spin and orbital properties of unpaired electrons. POLI is a polarized neutron single crystal diffractometer built on the hot neutron source at MLZ [1]. Currently three standard setups are implemented on POLI: 1) zero-field spherical neutron polarimetry using CRYOPAD; 2) polarized neutron...
In this contribution, we present a new approach to the classical treatment of total scattering data obtained from the ILL's hot neutron diffractometer. This software is based on a Python package and the use of Jupyter notebooks, providing maximum flexibility and allowing step-by-step monitoring of the entire process. At any point in the process, modifications can be made to suit the user's...
We present a new development of aerodynamic levitation for neutron scattering experiments,being developed in order to process both oxide and metallic melts, with a good signal with background ratio by introducing a new type of chamber. This setup enables levitation of
metallic spheres up to 4 mm in diameter under a controlled and vacuum-tight atmosphere. The system employs two 100W lasers...
Incommensurate spiral magnets have raised tremendous interest in recent years, mainly motivated by their wealth of spin structures with potential non-trivial topology. A second field of interest is multiferroicity: Helical spin structures are in general ferroelectric[1]. Both fields present enormous potential for future devices, where spin and charge degrees of freedom are coupled. ...
We present a novel application of neutron volume detectors to be realized for the TOF neutron powder diffractometer POWTEX [1, 2]. This application leverages the detector’s additional depth dimension needed to reconstruct neutron trajectories and enhance analytic capabilities.
The key advantage lies in exploiting the extra spatial dimension in order to extract information about the origin of...
Open Science Clusters’ Action for Research and Society (OSCARS) is a EU-funded project that will bring your research data to new audiences and target new use-cases. FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data allows research data to be used in new and novel ways, with increased citations acknowledging the original researchers and facilities that provided that data.
OSCARS...
Small-Angle Neutron-Scattering (SANS) with polarization analysis is a powerful technique to investigate magnetic order in hard condensed matter systems on the nanometer and mesoscopic length scales. Especially for magnetic chiral structures, polarized SANS and its surface sensitive counterpart Grazing-Incidence-SANS (GISANS) are effective tools to determine their lateral and depth magnetic...
Polyelectrolytes (PE) are polymeric macromolecules in aqueous solution characterized by their chain topology and intrinsic charge in a neutralizing fluid. Structure and dynamics are related to several characteristic screening length scales determined by electrostatic, excluded volume and hydrodynamic interactions. We examine PE dynamics in dilute to semidilute conditions using dynamic light...
Printed Neutron Converter Foils
Can conventionally printed neutron converters substitute costly coating processes?
The cost increase of helium-3 has sparked the development of alternative detection technologies, specifically the use of boron carbide (B4C) converters is one of the pillars of next-generation neutron detectors.
While producing high-quality films, sputter-deposition is...
Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) are vital in many applications ranging from biomedicine to heterogeneous catalysis. While their structure is well-studied, the interfacial dynamics of surface molecules have been barely addressed up to now. Quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS), though, is highly suited to access the dynamics of water and ligand molecules on surfaces of metal oxide...
We present a classification model consisting of an ensemble of Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) to recommend the small angle scattering (SAS) model from the inspection of two-dimensional images generated by the position sensitive detector in small angle neutron scattering experiments. This recommendation system ranks the highest scores in the SoftMax layer of the ensemble and can provide 5...
The cold triple-axis spectrometer (TAS) FLEXX at HZB is a well-designed and upgraded instrument [1-4]. There was a strong wish that this excellent instrument should be preserved for the community. One attractive gap in the present instrumentation suite of MLZ, is the Larmor-diffraction technique [5-6] (LD) and, as a natural extension, cold neutron resonant spin echo (NRSE). TAS comes at no...
QtiSAS is a cross-compiled program designed for the graphical visualization, reduction, analysis, and fitting of data produced by a small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument [1,2]. Initially, QtiSAS was developed to analyze data produced by SANS instruments of the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at the high flux reactor FRMII at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) in...
The SPectrometer for High Energy RESolution SPHERES at MLZ is a third generation backscattering spectrometer with focusing optics and phase-space transform (PST) chopper. Both these main components have been upgraded over the years, resulting in a more than doubled intensity. The latest upgrade encompassed the introduction of a background chopper, allowing for a low background operation with a...
We examine the chiral function in the polarized magnetic small-angle neutron
scattering (SANS) cross section resulting from vortex-type and skyrmion spin
structures through numerical micromagnetic simulations. Using the materials
parameters of FeGe and adopting a cylinder geometry, we consider the interplay
between the isotropic exchange interaction, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya...
We investigate the signature of magnetic surface anisotropy in nanoparticles in their spin-flip neutron scattering cross section. Taking into account the isotropic exchange interaction, an external magnetic field, a uniaxial or cubic magnetic anisotropy for the particle’s core, and several models for the surface anisotropy (Néel, conventional, random), we compute the spin-flip small-angle...
The Small-K Advanced Diffractometer (SKADI) is a small-angle neutron scattering instrument currently being constructed at the Eurpean Spallation Source (ESS) as a collaboration between the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Laboratoire Leon Brillouin, France.
I will be general purpose polarized high-flux (7.7×10e8 n s-1 cm-2) and high resolution SANS instrument with a simultaneous Q-range of at...
Microstructure at atomic- to nano- scale is one of the key factors that determining the mechanical and functional properties of matter. Therefore, accurate design and characterization of these microstructure are significant for properties’ manipulation in materials science. One of the novel nanostructure probe method is small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), which can unravel the fluctuation...
In recent decades, analyzing complex, disordered systems posed a challenging yet highly rewarding endeavor in the field of physics [1]. One intriguing area of investigation involves spin disorder [2], particularly in the context of magnetic nanoparticles. They exhibit a reduced saturation magnetization compared to their bulk counterparts that is the result of a substantial degree of spin...
Colloidal gelation, where colloidal scale particles aggregate and form a network, is a fundamental process with industrial relevance.(Jadrich et al., 2023) Following from our previous work on the structure formed by a simple system of gelling colloidal particles in a Couette shear field(de Campo et al., 2019, Muzny et al., 2023) we study the time evolution of the structure over an extended...
We investigate surface charged "starlike" micelles in aqueous solution formed by carboxy terminated n-octacosyl-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymers, C$_{28}$-PEO5-COOH with 5 the PEO molar mass in kg/mol, by small angle neutron scattering (SANS), zeta-potential measurements and rheology. The –COOH end group was introduced by selective oxidation of the –CH$_2$ –OH end group of a...
Slowing and stopping the ongoing rapid climate change necessitates the reduction of CO2 emissions and, therefore, fossil fuel consumption. Transportation, particularly motorized private transport, contributes significantly to fossil fuel consumption. Here, transitioning to battery elec-tric vehicles (BEVs) is an option to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, assuming a CO2-free electricity...
The cold neutron three-axis spectrometer IN12 is operated by the Juelich
Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) in collaboration with the CEA-Grenoble as
a CRG-B instrument at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble, France.
The instrument is situated in the guide hall ILL7 at the end position of a modern
state-of-the-art neutron guide.
With a virtual source concept and a double...
The neutron time-of-flight engineering diffractometer BEER (Beamline for European Materials Engineering Research) is currently under construction at the European Spallation Source (ESS).
The main tasks of BEER are to enable fast in situ and in operando characterization of materials and their microstructure during processing conditions close to real ones and to provide state-of-the-art and...
Inelastic neutron scattering techniques and the study of spin dynamics in magnetic materials have long driven each other's advancements. Traditionally, studies on ferromagnets like iron and nickel were limited by coarse resolution, even with state-of-the-art instruments. However, employing the modern neutron spectroscopy method MIEZE [1], we probed nickel's spin wave dispersion and...
Neutron single crystal diffraction provides an experimental method for the direct location of hydrogen and deuterium atoms in biological macromolecules. At the FRM II neutron source the neutron single crystal diffractometer BIODIFF, a joint project of the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the FRM II, is mainly dedicated to the structure determination of enzymes. Typical scientific questions address...
The Fe$_3$O$_4$/Nb:STO system has garnered significant attention due to its potential applications in spintronics and memristors. We present an investigation of a 30 nm Fe$_3$O$_4$ thin film deposited on a Nb-doped SrTiO$_3$ (Nb:STO) substrate using Polarized Neutron Reflectometry (PNR) and X-ray Reflectometry (XRR) at low temperatures. Around 105K, Nb:STO undergoes an antiferrodistortive...
Surprisingly, recent inelastic neutron scattering experiments on the spin-1/2 triangular lattice antiferromagnet(TLAF) Ba$_{3}$CoSb$_{2}$O$_{9}$ reveal unconventional multiband higher energy excitations that might be relevant to quantum nonlinearity. To clarify whether this unconventional higher energy excitation continuum is universal for spin-1/2 triangular antiferromagnets or not, various...
The cold neutron time-of-flight chopper spectrometer TOFTOF is versatile to address large parts of the relevant momentum and energy transfer range, with a tunable energy resolution, and it has a strong user base in the disordered materials community (materials sciences, soft matter, life sciences, magnetic materials). The instrument is in operation since 2005, and some critical components...
Since first years of exploitation in 1960-70, neutron scattering has emerged as a unique and non-destructive means to probing inside matter properties at the nanometer length scales. Because the neutron production is scarce and expensive, the detection has to be extremely efficient. We take advantage of the recent improvements of optical sensors in photon detection, to develop a...
Thermal moderators are a crucial component in the chain of neutron flux generation in neutron sources. Typically, the primary neutrons emitted from the nuclear reactions have energies in the MeV range. To be made useful for scattering or analytics experiments, their energies must decrease to reach values well belower 1 eV. The primary function of the thermal moderator is to facilitate this...
