Neutron scattering methods for soft condensed matter and food materials

Spin-echo small-angle neutron scattering (SESANS)

SESANS is a new efficient method to measure structures of materials in real space. Structures can be determined over three orders of magnitude in length scale, from 20 nanometer to 20 micrometer, which is an order of magnitude larger than conventional small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). In contrast to traditional scattering methods, the data in real space, rather than reciprocal space, this makes interpretation easier. These properties make SESANS a new powerful tool for the study of structural properties of materials.

In Delft we have built the first dedicated SESANS-instrument. The project has been continued with the development of the spin-echo components of OFFSPEC the reflectometer and Larmor the multi-purpose instrument for SANS at the 2nd target station at ISIS.

In the pages below you can read several explanations about the SESANS and examples of applications.

PhD theses

• Spin-Echo Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Development, Oktay Uca (2003)
• Spin-Echo Small-Angle Neutron Scattering applied to colloidal systems, Timofey Kruglov (2005)
• Microstructure in Powders, Spin-Echo Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Measurements, Robert Andersson (2008)
• Observation and modeling of biological colloids with neutron scattering techniques and Monte Carlo simulations, Leon F. van Heijkamp (2011)
• The structure of (nuclear) graphite: From the atomic to the macro scales, Zhou Zhou (2016)

Selected articles for further study

•  Analysis of spin-echo small-angle neutron scattering
  R. Andersson, L.F. van Heijkamp, I.M. de Schepper, W.G. Bouwman
  J. Appl. Cryst.. 41, 868-885(2008)
  dx.doi.org/10.1107/S0021889808026770
• Real-space neutron scattering methods
  W.G. Bouwman, J. Plomp, V.O. de Haan, W.H. Kraan, A.A. van Well, K. Habicht, T. Keller, M.T. Rekveldt
  Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 586 9–14 (2008)
  dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2007.11.045
• Spin-echo small-angle neutron scattering for magnetic samples
  S.V. Grigoriev, W.H. Kraan, M.Th. Rekveldt, T. Kruglov and W.G. Bouwman
  J. Appl. Cryst. 39, 252-258 (2006)
  dx.doi.org/10.1107/S002188980600481X
• Spin-echo small angle neutron scattering in Delft
  M.Th. Rekveldt, J. Plomp, W.G. Bouwman, W.H. Kraan, S.V. Grigoriev and M. Blaauw
  Review of scientific Instruments 76 033901 (2005)
  dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1858579
• Comparison of the performance of SANS and SESANS
  W.G. Bouwman, Roger Pynn and M.Th. Rekveldt
  Physica B 350 E787-E790 (2004)
  dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2004.03.205