Quokka and Platypus
Quokka (small-angle neutron scattering, SANS)
There has been notable progress on Quokka, particularly with respect to the installation of its polarisation capability. This gives the opportunity for conducting polarised SANS experiments on magnetic colloids, for example.
Our novel rapid heat-quench cell (see photo below) - a sample-environment device which has completed successful lab trials both heating and cooling between 150 and 450 K with rates of 3° per second - will be tested with neutrons in October at Argonne National Laboratory in the USA.
Platypus (reflectometer)
Construction of the Platypus time-of-flight neutron reflectometer is now complete and we await cold neutrons from OPAL. In the interim we have been conducting tests on the key systems of Platypus: radiation shielding and interlocks, the disc chopper system, collimating optics, motion control systems and helium-3 neutron detector.
Preliminary measurements have also been made of the cold-neutron flux and spectrum of the CG3 supermirror neutron guide and show a incident neutron-beam flux of ~6·109 ncm-2s-1. Hot commissioning experiments in coming months will accurately quantify the flux and spectrum under pulsed and collimated conditions.
