A time-of-flight backscattering spectrometer at the Spallation Neutron Source, BASIS

• DOI: 10.1063/1.3626214
• Publication Date: 2011-08-25T22:50:36Z
• Authors: E. Mamontov; K. W. Herwig
• Keywords: 7. Clean energy; 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

We describe the design and current performance of the backscattering silicon spectrometer (BASIS), a time-of-flight backscattering spectrometer built at the spallation neutron source (SNS) of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). BASIS is the first silicon-based backscattering spectrometer installed at a spallation neutron source. In addition to high intensity, it offers a high-energy resolution of about 3.5 μeV and a large and variable energy transfer range. These ensure an excellent overlap with the dynamic ranges accessible at other inelastic spectrometers at the SNS.