A multi-function materials facility for a Spallation neutron source

A neutron beam instrument is described which will allow the simultaneous study of the microstructural, crystalline phase, internal stress, defect, local order, texture, diffusional and vibrational properties of materials. The penetration of neutrons permits all these properties to be studied in a bulk specimen in situ during a heat treatment of chemical reaction as a function of time. The possibility of using narrow incident and scattered neutron beams allows the simultaneous monitoring of these properties as a function of position across the sample. Only by using the polychromatic neutron beam from a pulsed source, can all these properties be studied at the same time and at the same point on the specimen. The instrument is designed for installation on the Spallation Neutron Source recently commissioned at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Its performance is evaluated for a series of key experiments in applied science and shown to permit a complete neutron examination of the sample within minutes.