RXC NATL INST. OF STAND & TECH WIST PUBLICATIONS A111QS 6=11773- m ON THE COVER Part of the 913-detector array of the new Disk Chopper Spectrometer (DCS) that will be available to users in 2000. To view the detectors as found in the instrument, the picture should be rotated 90°. Information about the DCS and other instruments at NCNR is available at http://www.ncnr.nist.gov/. Photo: Mark Heifer NCNR 1999 NIST CENTER FOR NEUTRON RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES NIST Special Publication 944 J. Michael Rowe, Director Ronald L. Cappelletti, Editor Linda K. Clutter, Assistant Editor January 2000 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE William M. Daley, Secretary Technology Administration Dr. Cheryl L. Shavers, Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology Raymond G. Kammer, Director DISCLAIMER Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this report to foster understanding. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose. National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 944 Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 944, 80 pages (January 2000) CODEN: NSPUE2 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE - WASHINGTON: 2000 For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, DC 20402-9325 CONTENTS Foreword iv Introduction to the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) 1 NCNR Layout 2 NCNR Images 1999 4 Research Highlights Superlattice Magnons 6 Antiferromagnetic Spin Reorientation in Exchange-Biased Fe /NiO Superlattices 8 3 0 4 Spin Density Wave Order in the Superconducting State of La Cu0 10 2 4+y Local Spin Resonance and Spin-Peierls-Like Phase Transition in ZnCr 12 2 0 4 Compound Refractive Optics Improve Resolution of 30 m SANS Instrument 14 Polymer Brush Response to Solvent Flow 16 Macromolecular Conformation in Ultrathin Polymer Films 18 Probing the Location of the Terminal Groups of a Dendrimer 20 Self-Assemblies of Membrane Active Peptides 22 Shear Orientation of Viscoelastic Polymer-Clay Solutions 24 Unique Determination of Biomimetic Membrane Profiles by Neutron Reflectivity 26 Multi-Technique Studies of Ultrathin Si0 Films 28 2 Certification of an Ion-Implanted Arsenic in Silicon Standard Reference Material 30 The Rotational Dynamics of H in Porous Vycor Glass 32 2 First-Principles Computational and Neutron Scattering Study of Protonic Conductors 34 Magnetic Trapping of Ultracold Neutrons 36 Charge Disproportionation and Magnetic Ordering in CaFe0 38 3 Bond Valence Analysis of Ruthenates 40 Residual Stresses in Cold-Coiled Helical Automotive Springs 42 The NCNR Neutron Spin Echo Spectrometer 44 Serving the Scientific and Technological Communities 46 Reactor Operations and Engineering 50 Instrumentation Developments 51 Research Titles 56 Materials Science/Crystallography 56 Polymers 57 Complex Fluids 58 Condensed Matter Physics 59 Biomolecular Science 61 Chemical Physics of Materials 62 Instrumentation 63 Neutron Physics 63 Materials Analysis 64 Affiliations 65 Publications 66 Instruments and Contacts 76 Contacts Inside Back Cover NIST CENTER FOR NEUTRON RESEARCH iii FOREWORD Once again, it is a pleasure to be able to reflect on the accom- strains on our resources, but we can now look forward to many years plishments of the NIST Center for Neutron Research over of benefit from the results. the past year. In the reactor operations area, 1999 was another Finally, as always, the results are seen in the output of the outstanding year. In spite of an unsheduled maintenance shutdown, researchers who use the facility. As was done last year, we are the reactor operated 250 days, with a reliability factor of better than presenting highlights of this work in the following chapters of this 90 %. The cold source availability for the period was 98 %; i.e., the report. I think all can agree that the results truly speak for them- cold source held the reactor from operation 4 days during the year. selves. The remaining spent fuel in the storage pool was shipped, providing space for at least five years of operation. Also, an order has been placed for a new cooling tower which will not only provide needed capability for the next 25 years, but will also reduce the plume visible during cold weather. Last, steady progress has been made in preparing for a license renewal application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in order to extend the period of operation beyond 2004. We have also made great progress in instrumentation, with the back scattering spectrometer operational; with the spin echo spectrometer now being used for real measurements; and with the disk chopper spectrometer being commissioned. All three of these instruments will be available to "friendly" users in the next proposal cycle. Other work is also advancing well-the perfect crystal small angle scattering spectrometer (part of the NSF/NIST CHRNS) is being installed at the reactor; the first phase of the high intensity filter analyzer spectrometer is ready to begin installation; and the design and manufacture of new thermal neutron spectrometers is underway. This simultaneous development program has put severe 0¥ INTRODUCTION TO THE NIST CENTER FOR NEUTRON RESEARCH (NCNR) Modern technological society is dependent upon increasingly details of which are stringent tests of nuclear theory; and the effects sophisticated use of materials, many of whose attributes are of various external influences such as gravity or magnetic fields on dictated by their sub-microscopic structural and dynamical proper- neutrons. ties. Our knowledge of these properties is provided by a wide range The NCNR utilizes neutrons produced by the 20 MW NIST of scientific techniques of which the many types of scattering (for Research Reactor to provide facilities, including the nation's only example. X-rays, light, electrons, neutrons) are arguably the most internationally competitive cold neutron facility, for all of the above important. Of these probes, neutrons are perhaps least familiar, but types of measurements to a national user community. There are they provide important advantages for many types of measurements. approximately 35 stations in the reactor and its associated beams that Neutrons, as prepared for use at modern sources, are moving can provide neutrons for experiments. At the present time 26 of these at speeds comparable to those of atoms moving at room temperature, are in active use, of which 6 provide high neutron flux positions in thus providing the ability to probe dynamical behavior. At the same the reactor for irradiation, and 20 are beam facilities. A schematic time, neutrons are well matched to measurements at length scales layout of the beam facilities and brief descriptions of available ranging from the distances between atoms to the size of biological instrumentation are given below. More complete descriptions can be or polymer macromolecules. Neutrons are sensitive to the magnetic found at http://www.ncnr.nist.gov/. properties of atoms and molecules, allowing study of the underlying These facilities are operated both to serve NIST mission needs magnetic properties of materials. They also scatter quite differently and as a national facility, with many different modes of access. Some from normal hydrogen atoms than they do from heavy hydrogen instrumentation was built years ago, and is not suited to general (deuterium), allowing selective study of individual regions of molec- user access; however, time is available for collaborative research. ular systems. Finally, neutrons interact only weakly with materials, NIST has recently built new instrumentation, and reserves 33 % of providing the opportunity to study samples in different environments available time for mission needs with the balance available to general more easily (at high pressures, in shear, in reaction vessels, etc.), and users. In other cases, instrumentation was built and is operated making them a non-destructive probe. These favorable properties are by Participating Research Teams (PRT). PRT members have access offset by the relative weakness of the best neutron sources compared to 75 % of available time, with the balance available to general to X-ray or electron sources, and by the relatively large facilities users. In a special case, NIST and the National Science Foundation required to produce neutrons. As a result, major neutron sources established the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering at the are operated as national user facilities to which researchers come NCNR, with a 30 m Small Angle Scattering (SANS) instrument, a from all over the United States (and abroad) to perform small scale cold neutron triple axis spectrometer, and a perfect crystal SANS science using the special measurement capabilities provided. under construction. For these facilities, most time is available for In addition to scattering measurements, neutrons can be used general users. While most access is for research, whose results are to probe the atomic composition of materials by means of capture freely available to the general public, proprietary research can be and resultant radioactive decay. The characteristics of the decay act performed under full cost recovery. Each year, approximately 1600 as "fingerprints" for particular atomic nuclei, allowing studies of researchers (persons who participated in experiments at the facility, environmental