A neutron reflectometer (POSY-II) has been recently constructed at the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source at Argonne National Laboratory which will be dedicated to the investigation of various problems involving polymers and other materials at surfaces and interfaces. The instrument needs a scientist to operate the reflectometer as a user instrument, which means it will be available for basic research to the entire scientific community based on a proposal system. There is a great deal of research that awaits to be performed on POSY-II, including the determination of the concentration profiles at surfaces in polymer blends, at interfaces between incompatible polymer phases, the concentration profile of partially deuterated block copolymers segregated at interfaces between the homopolymers, polymer-polymer interdiffusion over very small length scales, block copolymer ordering at surfaces, and the segment distribution of polymers tethered to surfaces and interfaces. Although not an exhaustive list of the research that will be performed on the reflectometer, these examples give a sense of the power of this technique when applied to questions in materials research. The NSF contribution will be limited to the salary of the scientist in charge of this user-oriented facility.
