Abstract
Since its beginnings in ZING-P in the early 1970s, the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS) at Argonne National Laboratory has played an important role in the development of neutron scattering instrumentation, particularly in the utilization of time-of-flight techniques such as time-focusing for diffractometers. IPNS operates a user program for 11 instruments 25 weeks per year with a call for proposals every 6 months. As a medium-flux user facility, it serves the needs of the broader scientific community while providing training in the design and use of neutron scattering instruments for the next generation of scientists. The instruments at IPNS are continually being upgraded and evaluated; a significantly improved quasielastic neutron spectrometer was commissioned in 2000, and a similar enhancement on the high-resolution, medium-energy-range chopper spectrometer is currently underway. An enhancement plan, which includes improvements to most of the instruments and would approximately double the scientific throughput of IPNS, was recently reviewed and highly recommended. IPNS has lead responsibility for neutron scattering instruments for the Spallation Neutron Source being built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and has played a leading role in developing a proposal for target station and instruments for a long wavelength target station submitted in January 2001 to the National Science Foundation. Through these and other projects, IPNS will continue to be a source and testbed for novel neutron scattering instrumentation concepts. Thus, IPNS will play a vital role in the global neutron scattering community for the foreseeable future.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 112-116 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Physica B: Physics of Condensed Matter |
| Volume | 311 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
Most of the work discussed and much of the text in this article are the result of effort by other members of IPNS, in particular the neutron scattering group. IPNS is supported by the US DOE, BES-Materials Science, under contract W-31-109-ENG-38 to the University of Chicago. The work on the LWTS design effort received support from NSF Grant # DMR-0073038. As a national user facility, IPNS has an obligation to teach the wider scientific community about the uses of neutron scattering and to train potential users in the proper application of the technique. One of the ways in which we do this is through the Argonne-hosted National School on Neutron and X-ray Scattering funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE). During the 2-week period of August 14–26, 2000 Argonne National Laboratory hosted its second such program. The success of the school last year was so overwhelming that DOE provided additional funds to increase the size of the school from 48 to 60 graduate students. The National Science Foundation also provided funding for the school. The school fulfills a continuing need in training graduate students in the utilization of national user facilities and it is our intention to offer this course at Argonne in the future. Many students from last year's school are currently utilizing national user facilities not only at ANL but also throughout the country.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| BES-Materials | W-31-109-ENG-38 |
| National Science Foundation | DMR-0073038 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| University of Chicago |
Keywords
- Instrumentation
- Source
- Time-of-flight
- User facility