Applications | Neutron scattering

Neutron scattering is a very versatile tool for a wide range of disciplines, including physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. A beam of neutrons will scatter off the nuclei inside the material, giving the researcher detailed information about the structure of the material. Because neutrons are uncharged, they can penetrate deeply into the material without destroying it since they do not interact with the electrons surrounding the nucleus.

Lake Shore cryostats for neutron scattering have the following design features:

All cryogenic systems for neutron scattering have a thin-walled neutron zone surrounding the sample area. This neutron zone is most commonly made of aluminum but occasionally can be vanadium. It is an advantage to have these walls as far away from the sample as possible in order to minimize the interaction of the neutrons with the cryostat.
Some systems are self-supporting on a baseplate that can be bolted to a goniometer, allowing the cryostat to be tilted by a few degrees. Other systems have a long tail that reaches down into a well, the bottom of which opens to the neutron beam.
The sample environment can either be vacuum or static exchange gas. Top-loading static exchange gas systems are an advantage for a user facility because they make it easy (and fast) to change samples.
Lake Shore has built systems for operation as low as 300 mK or as high as 800 K.
Systems can be designed with detachable tails (including cold tails with indium-sealed joints), allowing tail sets to be exchanged for different experimental configurations.

Adaptable designs include:

Helium-cooled reservoir — SVT cryostats
Helium-cooled 4 K — SuperTran cryostats
Closed-cycle refrigerator systems in vacuum — CCS vacuum Series
Closed-cycle refrigerator systems in exchange gas — CCS exchange gas Series
1.5 K closed-cycle refrigerator systems — CCS low-temperature cryostats