The Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering (CHRNS) is a national user facility supported by the Division of Materials Research at the National Science Foundation in partnership with the Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) at the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST). CHRNS develops and operates state-of-the-art neutron scattering instrumentation with broad applications in materials research for use by the general scientific community through peer-reviewed proposals. The instruments are used by university, government and industrial researchers in materials science, chemistry, biology and condensed matter physics to investigate materials such as polymers, metals, ceramics, magnetic materials, porous media, fluids and gels, and biological molecules. CHRNS provides robust user operations at six premier neutron scattering instruments: two small-angle neutron scattering instruments that are used to characterize the nano- to microscale structure in materials (from 1 to over 10,000 nanometers); and four cold neutron spectrometers that probe dynamic processes in materials with characteristic times from 0.1 picoseconds to 100 nanoseconds. CHRNS staff scientists provide assistance to users; they also develop collaborative research projects in their areas of expertise, while continuously improving the measurement capabilities, reliability, and ease of use of the instruments. In addition, CHRNS provides expert assistance with sample environment equipment, chemistry laboratory activities, and data analysis software. This award also supports the addition to CHRNS of the Multi-Axis Crystal Spectrometer (MACS) which promises the world's most intense, monochromatic, cold-neutron beam. MACS is currently being commissioned at the NCNR.
Each year more than 500 scientists, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students make use of these capabilities, and several PhD's are awarded in the U.S. for research that involved experiments carried out at CHRNS. Developments at CHRNS are often widely adopted throughout the neutron and x-ray scattering communities. For example, CHRNS data visualization and analysis software is widely used for small angle scattering and inelastic scattering studies at facilities around the world.
The education and outreach activities of CHRNS include a summer school for neutron science which typically serves 35 graduate students, post-docs, and junior faculty each year. In addition, CHRNS participates in the NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) program and the two-week NIST Summer Institute for middle school science teachers. Outreach to groups that are underrepresented in scientific research is a hallmark of these programs.
