Improving neutron scattering data quality: a multi-angle light scattering setup

A typical neutron scattering experiment may last some hours, especially for low concentration biological samples. During that time some delicate samples might degrade and consequently lead to questionable results. A team of researchers is working on an in-situ set up to control the sample quality along time so that the data used to sum up to form a scattering curve can be selected and false data can be discarded. This work will considerably improve the quality of neutron scattering data on these unstable samples.

One of the tasks of the NMI3’s Joint Research Activity on Advanced Neutron Tools for Soft and Bio-Materials is to design and build an in situ Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) setup combined with neutron scattering to better control the sample quality over time. A prototype has now been built for the instrument KWS-2 of the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) in Garching, Germany.

This work is progressing very well. The team has shown that it is possible to mount and align a DLS setup on the neutron scattering instrument in less than 45 minutes. They have already tested the setup during an experiment and as desired it has provided valuable information on the sample stability and additional aggregates present.

In this video, Tobias Schrader from JCNS and Raimund Heigl from the Technical University of Munich explain us their work.