A further two instruments, IMAT and ZOOM, are under construction.

Reflector and moderator change on TS2

Changes are being made to the reflector and moderator on the second target station during the ISIS long shutdown in 2015/15 to provide the right view of the target for Larmor and Chipir – particularly so that Chipir can get higher energy neutrons to simulate the atmospheric neutron spectrum. Following scientific commissioning, Larmor and Chipir will then become part of the ISIS user programme.

ChipIR

Designed in consultation with academic and industry leaders in their field including a collaboration of leading aerospace manufacturers, ChipIR mimics the spectrum of neutrons that result from cosmic rays hitting the earth’s atmosphere, but hundreds of millions times more intense. This state-of-the-art facility will allow the electronic and avionic industries to test the resilience of their increasingly complex and compact electronics to this natural radiation and enable ‘hardening’ strategies to be developed.

LARMOR

Larmor is a multi-purpose, polarised small angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument with spin-echo capability. It will use polarised neutrons to provide access to spatial and temporal length scales that are not currently accessible at ISIS. We expect Larmor to be used to explore the science of soft matter and complex fluids, food science, bio-materials and pharmacy, advanced materials engineering, environmental and earth science.

IMAT

The neutron imaging and diffraction instrument IMAT will be available from 2015 for a wide range of materials science applications, with a main emphasis on engineering materials studies. The special features of the instrument will be energy selective neutron imaging and the combination of neutron imaging and neutron diffraction. IMAT will offer neutron radiography, neutron tomography, energy-selective imaging, neutron strain scanning, crystallographic structure and phase analysis, texture analysis, and non-destructive testing. Many projects will require only one analysis technique, but having diffraction and imaging options on the same beamline will enable new types of experiments to be performed.

ZOOM

Zoom is a highly flexible small angle scattering instrument. It will allow the study of length scales from 2 to 2000 nm – longer than normal length scales studied at ISIS. The longer length scales and the polarisation of the incident beam accessed by Zoom will expand the range of studies in void formation, precipitation or magnetic domains in magnetic materials, metals, alloys and around welds; material processing and polymerisation using super-critical fluids will benefit; studies of templated and mesoporous materials or directed assembly using DNA sequences, particularly the early stages of formation or where oriented anisotropic materials result.