Backscattering silicon spectrometer (BASIS): sixteen years in advanced materials characterization

Abstract

Quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) is an experimental technique that can measure parameters of mobility, such as diffusion jump rate and jump length, as well as localized relaxations of chemical species (molecules, ions, and segments) at atomic and nanometer length scales. Due to the high penetrative power of neutrons and their sensitivity to neutron scattering cross-section of chemical species, QENS can effectively probe mobility inside most bulk materials. This review focuses on QENS experiments performed using a neutron backscattering silicon spectrometer (BASIS) to explore the dynamics in various materials and understand their structure–property relationship. BASIS is a time-of-flight near-backscattering inverted geometry spectrometer with very high energy resolution (approximately 0.0035 meV of full width at half maximum), allowing measurements of dynamics on nano to picosecond timescales. The science areas studied with BASIS are diverse, with a focus on soft matter topics, including traditional biological and polymer science experiments, as well as measurements of fluids ranging from simple hydrocarbons and aqueous solutions to relatively complex room-temperature ionic liquids and deep-eutectic solvents, either in the bulk state or confined. Additionally, hydrogen confined in various materials is routinely measured on BASIS. Other topics successfully investigated at BASIS include quantum fluids, spin glasses, and magnetism. BASIS has been in the user program since 2007 at the Spallation Neutron Source of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, an Office of Science User Facility supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. Over the past sixteen years, BASIS has contributed to various scientific disciplines, exploring the structure and dynamics of many chemical species and their fabrication for practical applications. A comprehensive review of BASIS contributions and capabilities would be an asset to the materials science community, providing insights into employing the neutron backscattering technique for advanced materials characterization.