LIN: Laboratory for Neutron and Muon Instrumentation
Through a unique mix of technical and scientific staff the Laboratory for Neutron and Muon Instrumentation (LIN) is central to the operation and development of scientific instrumentation and methods for the SINQ and UCN neutron sources as well as the SμS muon source at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI). These efforts enable both PSI researchers as well as the international scientific user community to carry out state-of-the-art experiments that employ neutron and muon particle beams to solve topical scientific issues in fields ranging from particle physics to solid state physics to materials science.
Read more about LIN
News
LENS Webinar on New Directions in Instrumentation
On June 25 the League of Advanced European Neutron Source LENS organized a second webinar on "New Directions in Instrumentation". Artur Glavic (LIN) gave a presentation on "Neutrons for Magnetic Nanostructures on Surfaces: Beyond the Specular Intensity Wars", which is still available online.
European neutron facilities come together for LENS General Assembly
The League of advanced European Neutron Sources (LENS) with the participation of PSI held its second General Assembly at Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) together with meetings of its five working groups and the LENS Executive Board. The meetings brought the consortium’s operational working groups together with the leaders of the LENS member facilities to advance priority actions for the organisation in the months to come.
Take a flight through ESTIA
PSI is entirely responsible to build the polarised neutron reflectometer ESTIA at the European Spallation Source ESS in Lund, Sweden. The lead ESTIA scientist Artur Glavic (LNS/NUM) has now simulated a virtual tour of the neutrons travelling through the instrument from the focusing neutron guide to the detector.
Scientific Highlights
Evolution of Magnetic Order from the Localized to the Itinerant Limit
Quantum materials that feature magnetic long-range order often reveal complex phase diagrams when localized electrons become mobile. In many materials magnetism is rapidly suppressed as electronic charges dissolve into the conduction band. In materials where magnetism persists, it is unclear how the magnetic properties are affected.
Visualization and quantification of inhomogeneous and anisotropic magnetic fields by polarized neutron grating interferometry
The intrinsic magnetic moment of a neutron, combined with its charge neutrality, is a unique property which allows the investigation of magnetic phenomena in matter. Here we present how the utilization of a cold polarized neutron beam in neutron grating interferometry enables the visualization and characterization of magnetic properties on a microscopic scale in macroscopic samples.
Pauling Entropy, Metastability, and Equilibrium in Dy2Ti2O7 Spin Ice
Determining the fate of the Pauling entropy in the classical spin ice material Dy2Ti2O7 with respect to the third law of thermodynamics has become an important test case for understanding the existence and stability of ice-rule states in general. The standard model of spin ice—the dipolar spin ice model—predicts an ordering transition at T ≈ 0.15K, but recent experiments by Pomaranski et al.