Early this morning, the large vacuum vessel (~7 tonne) for our PELICAN time-of-flight spectrometer was successfully delivered and put into position in the Neutron Guide Hall.
We now have all the major components of the spectrometer, including 200 linear position-sensitive detectors and three Fermi choppers, in the facility and the full installation can now commence.
PELICAN is the 8th neutron beam instrument at the OPAL Reactor, and will be used to study how water molecules and other species move inside catalysts and other materials of interest, in addition to studying the excitation spectra of magnets and complex electronic materials.
It will likely be the first such instrument in the world to feature continuously variable incident neutron energy, with polarised neutrons and polarisation analysis and a fully moveable secondary spectrometer.
Congratulations to all who have helped us achieve this significant milestone.
The all-aluminium vessel has been fabricated by the local company Nepean Engineering.
Published: 25/03/2011