November 2023

Journal

A suite-level review of the neutron single-crystal diffraction instruments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

By:
Coates, Leighton ; Cao, Huibo ; Chakoumakos, Bryan C; Frontzek, Matthias D; Hoffmann, Christina M; Kovalevskyi, Andrii Y; Liu, Yaohua ; Meilleur, Flora ; Moreira dos Santos, Antonio F; Myles, Dean A; Wang, Xiaoping ; Ye, Feng
Journal Name:
Review of Scientific Instruments
Page Number:
92802
Volume:
89
Issue Number:
9
Publication Date:
November 9, 2023
View DOI Listing:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5030896

Abstract

The nascent suite of single-crystal neutron diffractometers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory has no equal at any other neutron scattering facility worldwide and offers the potential to re-assert single-crystal diffraction using neutrons as a significant tool to study nuclear and magnetic structures of small unit cell crystals, nuclear structures of macromolecules, and diffuse scattering. Signature applications and features of single-crystal neutron diffraction are high resolution nuclear structure analysis, magnetic structure and spin density determinations, contrast variation (particularly D2O/H2O) for nuclear structural studies, lack of radiation damage when using crystals of biological molecules such as proteins, and the fidelity to measure nuclear and magnetic diffuse scattering with elastic discrimination.