LOQ is a relatively simple instrument, consisting of an 11-metre evacuated beamline down which neutrons fly towards the sample. After being scattered by the sample, they hit a fixed two-dimensional detector 4 metres away, which can detect the positions and times of arrival of the neutrons. The resulting pattern is analysed to provide information on the nanostructure of the sample.

Science

LOQ may be used to investigate the shape and size of large molecules, small particles or porous materials with dimensions in the range of 1 - 100nm. Length scales of up to 400nm can be probed in highly anisotropic systems. This instrument should therefore be of interest to anyone involved in the study of colloids, nanoparticles, polymers, bio-molecules, alloys, composites or porous systems.

Technical

The principle benefit of conducting SANS experiments at ISIS is that a "white" incident beam is combined with time-of-flight detection techniques to give LOQ a very large dynamic range in scattering vector, Q, all of which is accessible in a single measurement without any need to re-configure the instrument.

Did you know?

LOQ is the most successful time-of-flight SANS instrument in the world! In 35 years of operation it has collected 210,000 data sets and generated 900 scientific publications!

To build on this success, in 2008 ISIS commissioned a second, more flexible, higher-throughput, SANS instrument on TS2 called SANS2D followed, in 2018, by a third SANS instrument called ZOOM​. A Spin-Echo SANS (SESANS) instrument, LARMOR​​, completes our suite of instruments.

LOQ participates in the ISIS Xpress Access mechanism.​

Contact information for Loq instrument

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