Liquids Reflectometer (LR)

Artistic view of the Liquids Reflectometer's goniostat, used for sample positioning. Click image for a larger view.

The reflectometry beamline consists of two separate instruments sharing the same primary shutter, one specialized in soft matter/liquids experiments and the other in magnetism. The Liquids Reflectometer is designed to view horizontal surfaces and will be useful for a wide range of science, including interfacial studies in polymers, cell-membrane analogues, biomimetic films, and surface chemistry involving thin layers of surfactants or other materials deposited on liquid surfaces. Data rates and Q-range covered at a single scattering angle setting will be sufficiently high to permit "real time" kinetic specular reflectivity on many systems. Time resolved phenomena such as chemical kinetics, solid state reactions, phase transitions, and chemical reactions in general will be accessible to study. The instrument is also designed to access, and should have sufficient flux to measure, a wide range of off specular and near-surface small-angle scattering momentum transfers.

Photograph of the goniostat. Click image for a larger view.

John Ankner is the SNS instrument scientist responsible for the operation of the Liquids Reflectometer, which was completed in May 2006 and is currently being commissioned. A descriptive one page Fact Sheet of the instrument (including specifications) is provided here in PDF format.

The following documents contain more detailed information about the expected performance and design of the Liquids Reflectometer:

- Use of Advanced Neutron Optics in a Liquids Reflectometer (PDF 138K)
- Reflectometry IOC Report (PDF 480K)
- Reflectometer Flux Comparison for IOC (PDF 140K)