Kookaburra, the ultra-small-angle neutron scattering instrument at ANSTO: design and recent applications

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Date
2021-11-25
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Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
Abstract
The double-crystal ultra-small-angle neutron scattering (USANS) diffractometer KOOKABURRA at ANSTO was made available for user experiments in 2014. KOOKABURRA allows the characterisation of microstructures covering length scales in the range of 0.1–20 µm. Use of the first- and second-order reflections coming off a doubly curved highly oriented mosaic pyrolytic graphite pre-monochromator at a fixed Bragg angle, in conjunction with two interchangeable pairs of Si(111) and Si(311) quintuple-reflection channel-cut crystals, permits operation of the instrument at two individual wavelengths, 4.74 and 2.37 Å (see more details https://www.ansto.gov.au/our-facilities/australian-centre-for-neutron-scattering/neutron-scattering-instruments/kookaburra). This unique feature among reactor-based USANS instruments allows optimal accommodation of a broad range of samples, both weakly and strongly scattering, in one sample setup [1,2]. The versatility and capabilities of KOOKABURRA have already resulted in a number of research papers, including studies on hard matter systems like rocks and coal [3,4], as well as soft matter systems like hydrogels or milk [5,6]. This clearly demonstrates that this instrument has a major impact in the field of large-scale structure determination. Some of the recent examples will be presented here. References: [1] Rehm, C. et al, J. Appl. Cryst., 2013, 46 1699-1704. [2] Rehm, C. et al, J. Appl. Cryst., 2018, 51, 1-8. [3] Blach, T. et al, Journal of Coal Geology, 2018, 186, 135-144. [4] Sakurovs, R.et al, Energy & Fuels, 2017, 31(1), 231-238. [5] Whittaker, J. et al, Int. J. Biol. Macromol., 2018, 114, 998-1007. [6] Li, Z. et al, Food Hydrocolloid, 2018, 79, 170-178.
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Keywords
Small angle scattering, ANSTO, Microstructure, Crystals, Wavelengths, Experiment design
Citation
Mata, J., de Campo, L., & Rehm, C. (2021). Kookaburra, the ultra-small-angle neutron scattering instrument at ANSTO: design and recent applications. Poster presented to the ANSTO User Meeting, Online, 24-26 November 2021. Retrieved from: https://events01.synchrotron.org.au/event/146/contributions/4354/
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https://apo.ansto.gov.au/handle/10238/15181
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Conference Publications