Thermal and cold neutron scattering is a technique that provides unique information about materials due to the uncharged nature of the neutron, while still maintaining sensitivity to magnetic structures and different isotopes of the same chemical element. This topic seeks the development or improvement of equipment that would ultimately enhance neutron instrumentation capabilities towards meeting those goals at existing neutron sources. Additional information about neutron sources can be found here. Developments should improve performance by increasing measured signal-to-noise, on-sample beam flux, or measurement resolution, or provide a novel capability that will enable new techniques at those neutron sources. Grant applications are sought in the following subtopics: a. Large-scale Fabrication of Super-mirror Reflection Surfaces for Neutron Guides, Mirrors and Filters A domestic manufacturer is sought to develop the capability to fabricate and deliver neutron super-mirror guides and associated neutron optics systems. Thin-film Nickel/Titanium nano-composite coatings on glass, silicon and metallic substrates are used to construct enclosed guide systems and singular and compound mirrors, as well as energy-dependent reflectors and filters. High-quality components of this kind are essential to prepare incident neutron beams for new and upgraded instruments at user-focused scattering facilities anticipated in the next five to ten years. Key requirements are: i. Coated surfaces should be able to reflect neutron wavelengths of 2.0 up to 0.8o (m=4) grazingincident angle with reflectivity greater than 80%. ii. Typical guide cross-section dimensions range from 4 cm to 15 cm, with complete segmented systems as long as 100 meters. iii. Guide systems can be split into multiple channels for optical or compact design purposes. iv. The volume within any enclosed guide should be able to maintain vacuum < 1 mbar or backfilled with Helium. Non-enclosed optics must be able to reside in an evacuated or backfilled enclosure. Questions Contact: Eliane Lessner, Eliane.Lessner@science.doe.gov b. Compact, Portable Single-Crystal Neutron Diffractometer Modern advances in thermal neutron detectors, neutron optics, automated controls and sample cooling systems have enabled the possibility to develop a compact single-crystal neutron diffraction system using offthe-shelf equipment in a way that is comparable to already commercially available single-crystal XRD systems. Proposed concepts should focus on delivery of a system that can be installed at an existing neutron source, is simple to install, calibrate, and operate, and includes software for automated, programmable control and crystallographic structure refinement. Such a system should also have a large solid-angle coverage and operate in either Laue or time-of-flight modes to permit use at a reactor or pulsed source. Built-in sample cooling and a suitable crystal orientation capability will be required to efficiently gather the entire set of reflections for structure refinement. Samples of interest for this application would be small in volume with unit cell edge lengths supporting macromolecular crystallography, although systems targeting smaller unit cells for quantum condensed matter are also encouraged. Key requirements are: i. Solid-angle coverage on the order of 2 steradians (50% of a full sphere). ii. Laue mode operation and ability to use an external timing signal permitting use at a reactor or pulsed source for time-of-flight operation. iii. Provide sample cooling below 77 K. iv. Crystal orientation capability that provides full reflection coverage given the detector geometry. v. Provide fully integrated, automated, and programmable operation. vi. Sample volumes as small as 1 mm3 and resolve a range of unit cell lengths up to 100 , although systems designed for smaller cell edge sizes as low as 3 are still encouraged. Questions Contact: Eliane Lessner, Eliane.Lessner@science.doe.gov c. High Rate, High Resolution Imaging Data Acquisition and Processing Neutron and X-ray Radiography has recently been shown to provide information about materials and equipment that cannot be quantified by any other means. Accelerator-based user facilities are developing dedicated polychromatic radiography beamlines to support exactly that need. This requires imaging resolution on the order of 10 microns with time resolution on the order of 1 nanosecond across a detector that can be as wide as 20 cm. While there are ASICs that can meet the resolution requirements, a large, tiled area of those in conjunction with additional position calculations will be required in order to meet the demands of radiography applications. The event rates for a radiography system at a pulsed neutron source can be 108 counts per second or higher depending on the beam conditions. A board-based processing solution is needed to take the data directly from the photo-sensitive chips and process it into appropriate position and time-of-flight information, reducing the overall data rate. The processed output would then be transmitted through a traditional connection capable of handling the new condensed data stream for further distribution to an existing data acquisition and control system. Specific requirements are: i. A system capable of interfacing with 48 standard photo-sensitive hybrid ASICs with total data rate as high as 492 Gbps. ii. Neutron event processing rates exceeding 100 MHz. iii. A remotely accessible interface for setup, maintenance, and calibration of the system. iv. An output interface that utilizes standard signal line technologies (such as IEEE 802.3cu-2021) in order to support high data rates. v. A data output standard that is compatible with existing instrument acquisition systems. Questions Contact: Eliane Lessner, Eliane.Lessner@science.doe.gov d. Other In addition to the specific subtopics listed above, the Department invites grant applications in other areas that fall within the scope of the topic descriptions above.
