Measuring Single-Crystal Diffuse Neutron Scattering on the Wombat High-Intensity Powder Diffractometer

Abstract

Single-crystal diffuse scattering was collected on the Wombat high-intensity powder diffractometer at the OPAL reactor at the Bragg Institute. The difficulty in measuring diffuse scattering comes from its relatively low intensity compared to the Bragg peaks, a factor of 103 to 104 smaller. Wombat allows collection of diffuse scattering due to its high intensity and large twodimensional detector. Diffuse scattering data from yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia (YCSZ, Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2) and PbZn1/3Nb2/3O3 (PZN) were successfully collected, the latter at a range of temperatures. The data were processed, normalized, and background subtracted to reconstruct flat reciprocal space sections with a minimum of artifacts. The strategies used to tackle the collection of neutron diffuse scattering and the way in which they are implemented will be discussed. The results show that the neutron powder diffractometer with a continuous detector is capable of collecting high-quality diffuse scattering data.