Lab Manager Magazine 11/11
The Cold Triple Axis spectrometer, a new addition to Oak Ridge National Laboratory's High Flux Isotope Reactor and a complementary tool to other neutron scattering instruments at ORNL, has entered its commissioning phase. The CTAX uses "cold" neutrons from the HFIR cold source to study low-energy magnetic excitations in materials. Cold neutrons are slower than their "thermal" neutron counterparts, and thus perfect for probing low-energy dynamics. The instrument, which moves by way of air pads on an epoxy surface known as the "dance floor," is one of only two of its kind in the United States. Following commissioning, it will be available for users this coming spring. "Neutrons have unique properties that make them ideally suited to study the complex atomic-scale interactions that govern the macroscopic physical and chemical properties of materials," said Jaime Fernandez-Baca, leader of the Triple Axis group.
