Xinhua News Agency, Guangzhou, November 16th (Reporters Zheng Tianhong, Yang Shuxin) On the 16th, reporters learned from Sun Yat-sen University that China's first high-energy direct geometry inelastic neutron scattering time-of-flight spectrometer (hereinafter referred to as "high-energy inelastic spectrometer") has successfully passed the acceptance test. This national heavy equipment, dedicated to observing the structure and dynamic properties of the microscopic world of materials, fills the gap in inelastic neutron scattering above 100 meV in China.
If conventional scientific instruments are compared to the human eye, then the high-energy inelastic spectrometer is a "super camera" with "superpowers." It not only can see the static structure of materials, but also has the ability to detect the dynamic processes of atoms and molecules within materials on a picosecond (one trillionth of a second) timescale, recording every moment of how atoms and molecules vibrate, rotate, and transfer energy.
The unique aspect of this high-energy inelastic spectrometer lies in its use of the characteristics of neutrons being uncharged and having strong penetration, enabling it to directly detect the microscopic motion inside materials. When neutrons undergo "inelastic collisions" with atomic nuclei in materials, they change speed and direction. By analyzing these changes, scientists can deduce the dynamic information inside the material.
Thanks to the large detector area, the high-energy inelastic spectrometer has a white light Laue camera operating mode, which will help in the rapid detection of structural and magnetic structure information of single crystal materials. It will provide key microstructural dynamical information for frontier basic research work such as the physical mechanisms of high-temperature superconductivity, quantum magnetic interaction mechanisms, transport properties of thermoelectric materials, ion diffusion mechanisms in batteries, and the activity of biomaterials.
As an important member of the national major scientific and technological infrastructure, the high-energy inelastic spectrometer will become an important platform serving the entire national scientific community. Its open sharing will provide strong support for the development of fundamental disciplines such as physics, chemistry, materials science, and biology.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
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