High intensity and high resolution neutron powder diffraction at the replacement research reactor

Abstract

Neutron powder diffraction is an established technique for studying the structures of crystalline materials. In any diffraction experiment the two most basic quantities which characterise the quality of the measured spectra are resolution and intensity. High-resolution measurements are used to determine precise and intricate details of the crystal structure, while high intensity measurements are used to characterise changes driven in real time by in-situ measurements. In both cases recent developments in the instrumentation have focussed on the use of position sensitive and area detectors to increase the effective count rate in high resolution and high intensity measurements respectively. We will describe the characteristics of the High Intensity Powder Diffractometer (Wombat) and the High Resolution Powder Diffractometer (Echidna), which are currently under construction at the replacement research reactor, ANSTO and which will be available to the Australian scientific community in 2006.