Methods
ESS / BEER
The BEER sample stage with the sample environment GLEEBLE and the detector banks (red) including the arc detectors (magenta) and the SANS scattering tube.
The BEER instrument under construction at the European Spallation Source (ESS) offers the opportunity to combine different neutron methods. Although the main focus of the instrument is on neutron diffraction, it will allow in future to combine diffraction with SANS or imaging. The neutron diffraction technique is a well-known method to characterize engineering materials and components. It allows for example to determine the crystalline phases, the internal stresses and the texture of a sample. The SANS method extends the investigated length scale to the nm-regime and enables amongst other things the study of precipitates in the materials. Imaging, on the other hand, gives the opportunity to investigate sample properties on the macro scale, e.g. structural changes within the sample.
For the detection of neutrons different methods are available. Widely used is a technique based on the neutron capture process by 3He gas in Multi-Wire-Proportional-Chambers (MWPC). At BEER, however, a new 3He-free MWPC is under development using 10B4C layers for the position detection of scattered neutrons.