Neutron backscattering is one of several
inelastic neutron scattering techniques.
Backscattering from monochromator and analyzer crystals is used to achieve an energy resolution on the order of a microelectronvolt (μeV). Neutron backscattering experiments are performed to study atomic or molecular motion on a nanosecond time scale.
History
Neutron backscattering was proposed by
Heinz Maier-Leibnitz
Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (28 March 1911, in Esslingen am Neckar – 16 December 2000, in Allensbach) was a German physicist. He made contributions to nuclear spectroscopy, coincidence measurement techniques, radioactive tracers for biochemistry and m ...
in 1966, and realized by some of his students in a test setup at the research reactor
FRM I in
Garching bei München
Garching bei München (, ''Garching near Munich'') or Garching is a city in Bavaria, near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments, located at Campus Garching.
History Spatial urban planning
Garching wa ...
, Germany.
Following this successful demonstration of principle, permanent spectrometers were built at
Forschungszentrum Jülich and at the
Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL). Later instruments brought an extension of the accessible momentum transfer range (IN13 at ILL), the introduction of focussing optics (IN16 at ILL), and a further increase of intensity by a compact design with a phase-space transform chopper (HFBS at
NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
, SPHERES at
FRM II, IN16B at the
Institut Laue-Langevin).
Backscattering spectrometers
Operational backscattering spectrometers at reactors include IN10, IN13, and IN16B at the
Institut Laue-Langevin, the High Flux Backscattering Spectrometer (HFBS) at the
NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...
Center for Neutron Research,
the SPHERES instrument of
Forschungszentrum Jülich at
FRM II
and EMU at
ANSTO.
Inverse geometry spectrometers
Inverse geometry spectrometers at spallation sources include IRIS and OSIRIS at the
ISIS neutron source at Rutherford-Appleton, BASIS at the
Spallation Neutron Source, and MARS at the
Paul Scherrer Institute
The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is a multi-disciplinary research institute for natural and engineering sciences in Switzerland. It is located in the Canton of Aargau in the municipalities Villigen and Würenlingen on either side of the Ri ...
Historic instruments
Historic instruments are the first backscattering spectrometer that was a temporary setup at
FRM I
and the backscattering spectrometer BSS (also called PI) at the
DIDO reactor of the Forschungszentrum Jülich (decommissioned).
[A historical and updated review on neutron backscattering and its applications can be found o]
WEB-site of Neutron Backscattering Spectroscopy
and a more recent version of it at http://www.astrosurf.com/heidemann/bsweb/index.htm/
References
{{Reflist
Neutron scattering
Spectroscopy