HYSPEC: A crystal time-of-flight hybrid spectrometer for the spallation neutron source with polarization capabilities

Abstract

The hybrid spectrometer (HYSPEC) is a unique direct geometry inelastic scattering instrument under construction at the spallation neutron source (SNS). It combines the intensity enhancement features of focusing Bragg crystals with time-of-flight energy analysis. It will be located at beam-line 14B, which views a coupled liquid hydrogen moderator. A neutron beam from the moderator will travel along a curved guide, through a Fermi chopper and will then be focused onto a sample in an external building, 39 m from the source. In this configuration the intensity at the sample position is more than an order of magnitude larger than for other planned inelastic instrument. A movable detector bank 4.5 m from the sample will cover an angular range of 60° in the horizontal plane and 15° in the vertical direction. An important feature of HYSPEC is the ability to do neutron polarization analysis experiments. A Heusler crystal, which polarizes the neutron beam, can be used as the focusing crystal and a series of bender analyzers will analyze the polarization of the scattered beam.