The use of chopper spectrometers for cold-to-epithermal neutron scattering at IPNS

A multi-detector chopper spectrometer enables measurements of the scattering function S(Q,E) to be made over a wide range of momentum and energy transfer (Q,E). The application of pulsed-source chopper spectrometers for inelastic measurements at thermal and epithermal energies (50 meV < E < 1000 meV) is well known. Recently at IPNS, we have extended the energy-transfer region down to about 0.5 meV with a resolution of the order of 150 μeV. It is made possible by utilizing the cold-neutron incident spectrum of the 100 K methane moderator in conjunction with a dual beryllium-body rotor system. Neutron incident energies can be changed efficiently over the 4 to 1000 meV region while maintaining an undisturbed sample environment. We describe the operation of the IPNS chopper spectrometers (HRMECS and LRMECS), the instrumental resolution and the background-suppression performance. The capability of measuring inelastic features from 0.5 to 100 meV with an energy resolution of ΔE/E0 = 2.5% is demonstrated by experimental results of crystal-field excitation spectra of a high-Tc superconductor ErBa2Cu3O7. Preliminary data of quasielastic scattering from a room-temperature molten salt AlCl3-EMIC are presented