Advanced Small-Angle Scattering Instrument Available in the Tokyo Area. Time-Of-Flight, Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Developed on the iMATERIA Diffractometer at the High Intensity Pulsed Neutron Source J-PARC

A method of time-of-flight, small-angle neutron scattering (TOF-SANS) has been developed based on the iMATERIA powder diffractometer at BL20, of the Materials and Life Sciences Facility (MLF) at the high-intensity proton accelerator (J-PARC). A large-area detector for SANS, which is composed of triple-layered 3He tube detectors, has a hole at its center in order to release a direct beam behind and to detect ultra-small-angle scattering. As a result, the pulsed-neutron TOF method enables us to perform multiscale observations covering 0.003 < q (A−1) < 40 (qmax/qmix = 1.3 × 104) and to determine the static structure factor S(q) and/or form factor P(q) under real-time and in-situ conditions. Our challenge, using unique sample accessories of a super-conducting magnet and polarized neutron, is dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) for contrast variation, especially for industrial use. To reinforce conventional SANS measurements with powder materials, grazing-incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) or reflectivity is also available on the iMATERIA instrument.