On May 26th 2010, EFree Partners attended a meeting at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in TN. Focusing on developments of the SNAP high pressure diffractometer. This meeting was instigated by SNAP beamline scientist (and EFree Partner) Chris Tulk, along with EFree Chief scientist Malcolm Guthrie and was hosted by Dean Myles, the Neutron Scattering Science Division Director at Oak Ridge.

 

As a result of the meeting, we have established a new Instrument Development Team (IDT) for SNAP. The team will be Coordinated by Guthrie and includes EFree Director Ho-Kwang Mao, Neutron Scientist Xiaojia Chen, and Coordinator Maddury Somayazulu in addition to x-ray scientist Yang Ding and EFree Partners Wendy Mao, Maria Baldini, Jeff Yarger, and Emmanuel Soignard. These EFree personnel are joined by John Parise and the SNAP team including Instrument Scientists Chris Tulk, and Antonio Moreira dos Santos, and Scientific Associates Jamie Molaison and Neelam Pradham.

 

Neutrons are a vital tool for characterising condensed matter. And, currently running at over 1 MWatt, the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the world most powerful pulsed source. This is a crucial attribute for extreme conditions research, as the intense neutron flux equates to smaller sample sizes and consequently substantially higher pressures and temperatures than have previously been possible. The goal of the IDT is to establish a technical team that will ensure that the full scientific potential of the SNAP diffractometer is realised. EFree stands to benefit from the creation of a world-leading resource for extreme conditions neutron science.

 

EFree Partners who are interested in conducting neutron-based high pressure science are encouraged to contact Malcolm Guthrie for further information.