In this section
SANS2D
SANS2D uses small-angle neutron scattering to study size, shape, internal structure and spatial arrangement on scales of 0.25–300 nm. It is used to study the larger structures formed by atoms in areas including soft matter, colloidal systems, nanomaterials and biological systems.
Instrument scientists
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Technical information
| Incident wavelengths | 1.75 – 16.5 Å at 10 Hz |
| Momentum transfer, Q | Depends on the sample. Detector distances and detector offsets:
Qmin ∼ 0.0015 Å−1 Qmax ∼ 3 Å−1 |
Instrument parameters
Instrument parameters
| ISIS beamline | E2, viewing the coupled cold moderator |
| Primary flight path | 3ΘcNi super-mirror bender (to remove neutrons with wavelengths less than 1.5 Å), upstream scintillator monitor, overcount protection fast shutter, variable-opening counter-rotating disc chopper, 5 x 2 m moveable evacuated collimation sections (each with choice of Ni guide sections or plain pipe) for variable incident collimation, 5 moveable aperture strips (each with different size apertures), sample position scintillator beam monitor, sample aperture strip, final collimation tube. |
| Sample position | Around 19 m from the moderator, access is from the side and there are no height restrictions within reason. Beam is approximately 1m above the base plate. Crane access is possible, where SWL < 5000 kg. Sample transmission monitor on motorised rack.
Provided with water, helium, and electrical services. |
| Beam size at sample | Defined by sample aperture strip and final collimation. Up to 15 mm diameter is possible, typically an 8 mm diameter is used. Smaller apertures for use with microfluidic/low volume sample environments are available, please discuss with an instrument scientist for further information. |
| Neutron flux at sample | Dependent on collimation, accelerator performance and target type. Typical time-averaged flux is currently estimated to be > 106 cm−2 s−1 (ISIS TS2 at 10 Hz, 40 μA, 800 MeV proton beam, tantalum target.) |
| Secondary flight path | An evacuated tank containing the detectors. |
| Detectors | Two 3He-CF4 filled ORDELA “area” detectors. Active area of each is 96.5 cm x 96.5 cm with 5 mm resolution. The detectors can be moved in the vacuum tank along the beam to vary the sample-to-detector distance between 2 – 12 m. They can also be offset in translation perpendicular to the beam up to 1200 mm, allowing for the extension of the Q-range at a given detector distance. The front detector can also be rotated to face the sample. Detector mapping is under software control. |
Related resources
Sample preparation and sample environment
- SANS quartz cells
- ISIS Soft Matter team
Software
Recent publications
Instrument reference
All publications and datasets based on experiments using SANS2D should cite that the data is collected by DOI: 10.5286/isis.instrument.2159. Experiment DOIs follow the format 10.5286/ISIS.E.RBXXXXXXX, where XXXXXXX is the 7-digit experiment (RB) number and these can be viewed via the Data Gateway.