The IPEN/CNEN-SP PSD neutron diffractometer

Full text: A new IPEN-CNEN/SP neutron powder diffractometer is under construction at the 4 MW thermal IEA-R1m research reactor. It is an upgrading of the old IPEN-CNEN/SP multipurpose neutron diffractometer. The main modifications introduced in the old instrument are: installation of a position sensitive detector (PSD) and a bent perfect single crystal monochromator (a focusing Si monochromator). The PSD is formed by eleven linear detector elements, clamped together at each end to form a rigid plane. The PSD is installed in a detector shielding which is supported by two arms fixed in a large rotary table. This table provides the instrument with the 2θ angular movement. A smaller rotary table, placed underneath and concentric with the larger one, provides the ω(θ) movement. Both tables are driven by a computer controlled geared mechanism. The computer also makes the data acquisition. A rotating-oscillating collimator, placed at the entrance to the detector shielding, eliminates parasitic scattering from furnace or cryorefrigerator heat shields in the vicinity of the sample. The collimator also makes the PSD less sensitive to ambient background. The PSD spans an angular range of 20 deg of a diffraction pattern, resulting in a quite good resolution for the instrument. An extended powder diffraction pattern can be obtained by moving the detector and collecting the data in 20 deg segments. With a take-off angle of 84 deg, the monochromator can be positioned to produce 4 different wavelengths, namely 1.111, 1.399, 1.667 and 2.191 A. Other parts constructed for the new instrument are: a in-pile collimator, a monochromatic beam collimator and a neutron shield, large enough to accommodate the monochromator, a beam shutter and the monochromatic beam collimator. In comparison to the former instrument, the new diffractometer will have better resolution and will be ca. 600 times faster in data acquisition. At the present time, the new instrument is in the final steps of construction. It will be open to the scientific and technological communities. (author)