Koala
Koala (quasi-Laue diffractometer)
On Thursday 19 June, Ross Piltz and Alison Edwards conducted the first neutron diffraction experiment using the Koala Laue diffractometer - the first image was recorded on a crystal of rock salt (NaCl), like the Braggs who recorded their first X-ray diffraction images from salt for their ground-breaking studies.
Subsequently, we took a neutron diffraction pattern (shown above) from a crystal of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) - a more complex material which has a larger unit cell and from which more diffraction spots result. The structure refinement using the Koala data set is shown in the picture below (thanks to Chris Ling).
The image shown was recorded in a 10 minute exposure from a 2 x 2 x 2.5 mm3 crystal. The data on this image would have taken about half a day to measure on the decommissioned 2TanA instrument. We look forward to probing the practical limits of this instrument.