The NIST/NSF Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering

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This award from the National Facilities program in the Division of Materials Research provide funds for continued operation of the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering (CHRNS) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). CHRNS develops and operates state-of-the-art cold neutron scattering instrumentation, with broad application in materials research, for use by the general scientific community. Over 400 scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students use the CHRNS instruments each year. The scientific staff at CHRNS provide assistance to users, lead and collaborate on research projects carried out on the CHRNS instruments, and strive to improve the measurement capabilities of the instruments in ways that expand the user program into new areas. CHRNS comprises six facilities: two small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) instruments for characterizing the nano- to micron scale structure in materials ; and four cold neutron spectrometers that probe dynamic processes in materials with characteristic times from 100 nanoseconds to a fraction of one thousands of a nanosecond. These six facilities cover as wide a range of length and time scales as any neutron research center worldwide. This award allows CHRNS to maintain the high level of use, reliability and support for users while continuing to make improvements that extend their measurement capabilities. Some of the new capabilities include time-resolved SANS measurements with sub-millisecond resolution which will for the first time enable neutron diffraction studies of materials, such as electro-rheological fluids and muscle tissue, that respond to stimuli on these time scales.Support is also provided for the NIST annual summer schools, summer internships for undergraduates, web-based tutorials and related education and outreach activities, to increase the breadth and diversity of the U.S. community of researchers who include neutron scattering in their collection of research tools. This includes plans to develop alliances with educational organizations committed to increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in science and engineering, and to broaden the impact of its education and outreach activities. The growth in research related to nanotechnology will accelerate demand for the techniques provided by CHRNS to determine nanoscale structure and dynamics. Emerging developments in biotechnology and spintronics are two examples of areas where cold neutron techniques are expected to play an increasingly important role due to their unique sensitivity to hydrogenous and magnetic materials, respectively. CHRNS will have significant impact in enabling U.S. researchers to bring these tools to bear on a broad cross section of forefront research in areas such as polymer science, structural biology, materials chemistry, surfactant and colloidal science, and magnetism and superconductivity.