Grazing-incidence small angle neutron scattering achieved in spectrometer SANS-Suanni of transmission geometry

Current work presents the design and applications of the grazing-incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) based on SANS-Suanni spectrometer at the 20 MW China Mianyang research reactor (CMRR)-based neutron center. A multi-dimensional sample stage with both front and back slits were designed and set up on SANS-Suanni for achieving the geometry. Experimentally, thin films samples with mono-dispersed silica on sapphire substrates were prepared for collecting two-dimensional (2D) GISANS patterns at beam size setting of 4 mm width and 5 mm height. Typical signals such as the specular reflection peak, Yoneda peak, as well as the sample scattering, etc. were obtained. Moreover, integrated 1D GISANS profiles in different directions, namely vertical and horizontal directions of the incident beam (0V, 0H), and horizontal direction of the Yoneda peak (YH) were obtained via rectangular integration. Accordingly, incident angle (������i) as about 0.76 degrees and the contrast of the sample systems as around 4.07 x 1010 cm-2 were determined. Moreover, the overlapping of 0H curves and the SANS profiles indicates that GISANS can cover some of the structural information as SANS provided, along with the capability of measuring the thin film samples.

Automated summary

This study presents the design and application of grazing-incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) based on the SANS-Suanni spectrometer at CMRR. A multi-dimensional sample stage was designed and set up to achieve the desired geometry. Thin film samples of mono-dispersed silica on sapphire substrates were prepared and 2D GISANS patterns were collected. The experiment yielded typical signals and 1D GISANS profiles were obtained through rectangular integration. The study also determined the incident angle and contrast of the sample systems, and showed that GISANS can provide similar structural information as SANS and measure thin film samples.