Taipan
(thermal three-axis spectrometer)
While we have yet to submit Taipans operating license to the regulator, and cannot commence user operations until it is approved, some test experiments have been performed, for example on super-ionic conductors. These are materials that allow the macroscopic movement of ions through their structure, leading to exceptionally high (liquid-like) values of ionic conductivity in the solid state. Potential applications include miniature, high-power-density lithium batteries for heart pacemakers, mobile phones etc to high-capacity energy storage devices for next-generation electric vehicles.
Recently a previously studied ionic conductor, Cu1.85Se, which exhibits a super-ionic α-phase at room temperature, has been studied on Taipan.
The figure above shows measured phonon dispersion curves: these are important clues to understand the ionic diffusion mechanism in these materials.