Time-of-Flight Three Dimensional Neutron Diffraction in Transmission Mode for Mapping Crystal Grain Structures

The physical properties of polycrystalline materials depend on their microstructure, which is the nano- to centimeter scale arrangement of phases and defects in their interior. Such microstructure depends on the shape, crystallographic phase and orientation, and interfacing of the grains constituting the material. This article presents a new non-destructive 3D technique to study centimeter-sized bulk samples with a spatial resolution of hundred micrometers: time-of-flight three-dimensional neutron diffraction (ToF 3DND). Compared to existing analogous X-ray diffraction techniques, ToF 3DND enables studies of samples that can be both larger in size and made of heavier elements. Moreover, ToF 3DND facilitates the use of complicated sample environments. The basic ToF 3DND setup, utilizing an imaging detector with high spatial and temporal resolution, can easily be implemented at a time-of-flight neutron beamline. The technique was developed and tested with data collected at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility of the Japan Proton Accelerator Complex (J-PARC) for an iron sample. We successfully reconstructed the shape of 108 grains and developed an indexing procedure. The reconstruction algorithms have been validated by reconstructing two stacked Co-Ni-Ga single crystals, and by comparison with a grain map obtained by post-mortem electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD).

Non-aqueous selective synthesis of orthosilicic acid and its oligomers

Orthosilicic acid (Si(OH)₄) and its small condensation compounds are among the most important silicon compounds but have never been isolated, due to their instability. These compounds would be highly useful building blocks for advanced materials if they became available at high purity. Here we show a simple procedure to selectively synthesize orthosilicic acid and its dimer, cyclic trimer and tetramer in organic solvents. Isolation of orthosilicic acid, the dimer and the cyclic tetramer as hydrogen-bonded crystals with tetrabutylammonium halides and the cyclic trimer as solvent-containing crystals is also described. The solid-state structures of these compounds are unambiguously clarified by single crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction studies. The usefulness of orthosilicic acid and its oligomers prepared by the new procedure is demonstrated by the synthesis of functionalized oligosiloxanes.

Orthosilicic acid is essential to many natural and synthetic materials but notoriously difficult to isolate, limiting its use in materials synthesis. Here, the authors successfully synthesize and stabilize orthosilicic acid and its oligomers, making available a new family of building blocks for silicon oxide-based materials.

SENJU: a new time-of-flight single-crystal neutron diffractometer at J-PARC

SENJU, a time-of-flight Laue-type single-crystal neutron diffractometer, was developed at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility of the Japan Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Molecular structure analysis of a sub-millimetre taurine crystal and magnetic structure analysis of an MnF₂ crystal were performed to evaluate its performance.

SENJU is a new single-crystal time-of-flight neutron diffractometer installed at BL18 at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility of the Japan Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). The diffractometer was designed for precise crystal and magnetic structure analyses under multiple extreme sample environments such as low temperature, high pressure and high magnetic field, and for diffraction measurements of small single crystals down to 0.1 mm³ in volume. SENJU comprises three choppers, an elliptical shape straight supermirror guide, a vacuum sample chamber and 37 scintillator area detectors. The moderator-to-sample distance is 34.8 m, and the sample-to-detector distance is 800 mm. The wavelength of incident neutrons is 0.4–4.4 Å (first frame). Because short-wavelength neutrons are available and the large solid angle around the sample position is covered by the area detectors, a large reciprocal space can be simultaneously measured. Furthermore, the vacuum sample chamber and collimator have been designed to produce a very low background level. Thus, the measurement of a small single crystal is possible. As sample environment devices, a newly developed cryostat with a two-axis (ω and φ axes) goniometer and some extreme environment devices, e.g. a vertical-field magnet, high-temperature furnace and high-pressure cell, are available. The structure analysis of a sub-millimetre size (0.1 mm³) single organic crystal, taurine, and a magnetic structure analysis of the antiferromagnetic phase of MnF₂ have been performed. These results demonstrate that SENJU can be a powerful tool to promote materials science research.

SENJU, Extreme Environment Single Crystal Neutron Diffractometer at J-PARC

SENJU, a TOF-Laue single crystal neutron diffractometer at the BL18 of MLF/J-PARC, was designed for precise crystal and magnetic structure analyses under multiple extreme environments such as low-temperature, high-pressure and high-magnetic field, and also capable of taking diffraction measurements of small single crystals, less than 1.0 mm3 in volume [1]. Just after the launch of SENJU in March 2012, we newly installed and/or upgraded some sample environment devices. SENJU has a vacuum sample chamber and 37 two-dimensional scintillation detectors. Wavelength of incident neutron is 0.3 - 4.4 Å for the 1st frame and 4.6 - 8.8 Å for the 2nd frame. Because the short wavelength neutron is available and the sample position is covered by large solid angle of the detectors, wide reciprocal space within 30 Å-1 can be measured simultaneously by one measurement. As sample environment devices, 4K cryostat with 2-axes goniometer, longitudinal magnet, high-pressure cell, high temperature furnace and other devices are available or in commissioning. The most popular sample environment device on SENJU is the 4 K cryostat with a fixed-chi type 2-axes goniometer. We adopted piezo-rotators to rotate the sample crystal under vacuumed and cryo conditions. The 2-axes goniometer works stably even at 4 K and the time for cooling was 4.5 hours. A longitudinal magnet was recently installed on SENJU. The lowest temperature was 1.42 K and the maximum magnetic field was 6.85 T. A test diffraction measurement of a CeCoGe3 single crystal (1.5 x 1.5 x 3.0 mm) under 1.5 K and 0.5 T showed that Bragg reflections from the sample was clearly observed and the Bragg peaks of the sample crystal were much higher than the peaks from the magnet itself as shown in the figure. In this presentation, we will show the current status of sample environment devices for SENJU such as cryostat, magnet and other devices.

Precision of the single crystal neutron diffractometer SENJU at J-PARC

"SENJU" is a newly built pulsed neutron single crystal diffractometer at J-PARC/MLF for structural research of inorganic and organic materials with relatively small cell sizes under multiple extreme environments, such as low temperature and a high magnetic field. Since the launch of the instrument in 2012, SENJU has been commissioned and now tuned to be capable of crystal and magnetic structure analyses with a sample as tiny as 1mm cube or less. SENJU has the total of 37 two-dimensional scintillation detectors installed. Groups of 3 detectors are accommodated in detector banks and 12 detector banks are placed so as to cylindrically surround the sample chamber (Figure), and additional one detector is settled at the bottom. The instrumental parameters including the positions of the detectors and the neutron flight path length were determined in order to obtain accurate lattice parameters of samples. Since the instrumental parameters correlate with each other, series of different measurements were needed in order to obtain unique values for each parameter. As the first step of the procedure, a powder diffraction pattern of diamond was measured in order to determine the scattering angle of 90 [deg] utilizing the nature that a Bragg reflection vertically lines up at 90 [deg]. Simultaneously, we determined the neutron path length L1 from the neutron source to the sample position. As a next step, a Bragg reflection was repeatedly measured as the sample crystal was rotated with small steps. From this data, the equatorial plane on the detectors and the distance between the sample and the detectors L2 were determined. As a third step, many Bragg reflections from a sample with known lattice constants were measured and from the positions of the reflections the positions of each detector were determined. As a result, the lattice parameters can be obtained with the accuracy of about 0.05 % using the determined instrumental parameters.