ISIS: Background information

What is ISIS?The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source is a world-leading materials research centre at the

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. ISIS produces beams of neutrons and muons that allow

scientists to study materials at the atomic level using a suite of instruments often described as

‘super-microscopes’.

ISIS supports an international community of around 3000 scientists who use neutrons and

muons for research:

in physics, chemistry, materials science, geology, engineering and biology.

From clean energy and the environment, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, through to

nanotechnology, materials engineering and IT

It is the most productive research centre of its type in the world and has published 10,000

research papers since 1984.

From the original vision over 30 years ago, ISIS has become one of the UK’s major scientific

achievements. As the world’s leading pulsed neutron and muon source, ISIS has changed the

way the world views neutron scattering and all future neutron sources will be based on ISIS

technology. The US and Japan have constructed neutron sources like ISIS in order to catch

up with the UK.

ISIS is owned and operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

What does ISIS do?

Neutrons play a definitive role in understanding the material world. They can show where

atoms are and what atoms do. By scattering neutrons off sample materials, scientists can

visualise the positions and motions of atoms and make discoveries that have the potential to

affect almost every aspect of our lives.

Neutron scattering is a unique research and analysis technique for exploring the structure and

dynamics of materials at the nanoscale. The process of neutron scattering is non-destructive

and produces unique results that cannot be achieved by other techniques.

Neutron scattering research

Neutrons are used to study the dynamics of chemical reactions at interfaces for chemical and

biochemical engineering, food sciences, drug synthesis and molecular biology.

Neutrons can probe deep into solid objects such as turbine blades, gas pipelines and welds to

give a unique microscopic insight into the strains and stresses that affect the operational

lifetimes of these crucial engineering components.

Neutron studies of nano-particles, low-dimensional systems and magnetism impact upon next

generation computer and IT technology, data storage, sensors and superconducting

materials.

ISIS is strongly placed to help provide solutions to major sociological and technological

problems of the 21st Century. ISIS plays a vital role in the portfolio of analysis techniques used

by researchers for areas as varied as energy, nanotechnology, materials processing, drug

design and pharmaceuticals, bio-technology and green technology for a clean environment.

Examples include studies of:

hydrogen absorption in new materials designed for hydrogen storage, clean energy

and alternative fuels for transport

solvents and lubricants for use in industry and in the home

stress and fatigue in components from aerospace, transport and power generation

the structure of pharmaceutical compounds

the breakdown of environmental contamination by natural enzymes

bio-compatible materials for healthcare

Key facts and figures

3000 users from over 30 different countries per year

Around 450 scientific publications per year

Over 700 experiments per year

1100 experiment proposals per year

Experiment length varies from 1 day to 2 weeks, but typically 3-4 days duration

ISIS runs for around 150 days per year, in run cycles of 30-45 days.

ISIS operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week during a run cycle.

ISIS employs around 360 staff

There are 7 neutron instruments on TS2, 22 neutron instruments on TS1, 7 muon

instruments on TS1, and 4 neutron instruments in the TS2 Phase 2 project being

designed.

ISIS is FREE to use for academic researchers, provided the results are published in

the public domain. If users want control of the intellectual property, then beam time

can be purchased.

ISIS is FREE to use for industry under the ISIS Collaborative R&D programme. If the

company wishes to protect its IP, then they must pay back the costs of their

beamtime at ISIS.

Annual operating costs of ISIS are around £30 million; 20% of that cost is for

electricity

Around 10,000 scientific publications since opening in 1984

20% of ISIS research is in some way connected with industry

UK in Partnership with

o Australia

o EU

o France

o Germany

o India

o Italy

o Japan

o Netherlands

o Spain

o Sweden

o Switzerland

o USA

How does ISIS work?ISIS makes neutrons by firing high-energy beams of protons at 84% light speed into a

tungsten target. The protons are accelerated to this high energy using a circular synchrotron

accelerator with a circumference of 163 metres.

Neutrons are released from the target and then channelled along beamlines to neutron

instruments surrounding the targets.

Material samples to be investigated are placed in the neutron beams. Atoms inside the

materials scatter neutrons in all directions which are recorded in detectors surrounding the

sample material.

Scientists using the instruments for their experiments must then work out the molecular

structures of the sample material by interpreting the collected data. When this has been

worked out, the physical and chemical properties of the materials can be understood.

What’s new at ISIS?The £145 million ISIS Second Target Station Project started operating in October 2008

enabling the ISIS science programme to expand into the key research areas of soft matter,

advanced materials and bio-science.

Funding for a second phase of instruments to be built 2011-2014 was announced in March

2011 by Universities and Science Minister David Willetts. The £21 million funding, together

with additional contributions from ISIS partner countries, will finance the construction of four

new instruments within the phase two instruments project: Chipir, Imat, Larmor and Zoom.

Both target stations will operate for at least another 20 years.

ISIS History

ISIS has been operating for more than 25 years. The source was approved in 1977, first

neutrons were produced in late 1984 and ISIS was officially inaugurated in October 1985 by

then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Funding for the ISIS Second Target Station project was announced by Lord Sainsbury (then

Science Minister) in spring 2003 to increase capacity and scientific capabilities.

The Second Target Station produced first neutrons in August 2008.

ISIS complements other STFC facilities such as synchrotron light sources and lasers. Neutron

scattering and muon spectroscopy are frequently used by scientists as part of wider research

programmes providing unique and complementary information.

About STFC

The Science and Technology Facilities Council is an independent, non-departmental public

body of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). STFC was formed as a

Research Council on 1 April 2007 and is one of seven national research councils in the UK.

STFC is a science-driven organisation, and makes it possible for a broad range of scientists

to do the highest quality research tackling some of the most fundamental scientific questions.

This is done by:

funding researchers in universities directly through grants particularly in astronomy,

particle physics, space science and nuclear physics.

providing access to world-class facilities in the UK, including the ISIS neutron and

muon source, the Central Laser Facility, high performance computing using HPCx

and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the Lovell Telescope at

Jodrell Bank Observatory near Machester. STFC is also a major stakeholder in the

Diamond Light Source, which started operations in 2008.

providing a broad range of scientific and technical expertise in the UK in space and

ground-based astronomy technologies, microelectronics, wafer scale manufacturing,

particle and nuclear physics, alternative energy production, radio communications

and radar.

providing access to world-class facilities overseas, including CERN, the European

Southern Observatory (ESO), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF),

the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and telescope facilities in Chile, Hawaii, La Palma,

Australia and.

STFC encourages researchers to create new businesses based on their discoveries and

helps establish spin-out companies to use the results of research as the basis of new or

improved products and services.

STFC staff are deployed at 7 locations: Swindon, where the headquarters is based; the

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, which is part of the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus

in Oxfordshire; the Daresbury Laboratory, which is part of the Daresbury Science and

Innovation Campus in Cheshire; the Chilbolton Observatory in Hampshire; the UK Astronomy

Technology Centre in Edinburgh; the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes on La Palma in the

Canary Islands; and the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hawaii.

STFC distributes public money from the Government to support scientific research. Between

2008 and 2009 it will invest approximately £787 million to support UK research.

Building the ISIS Second Target Station

The £145 million construction of a Second Target Station at ISIS will reinforce its position as

the world’s leading neutron spallation source. The current target station (Target Station 1) is

now at capacity and the new facility will accommodate more instruments (7 currently – with

capacity for 18) to make use of the bright source of long wavelength, low energy neutrons.

Both of these factors allow for an increased capability and spectrum of research.

The focus of research at the ISIS Second Target Station Project is:

Bioscience

Soft Matter

Advanced Materials

The Second Target Station Project will keep the UK at the forefront of neutron research. It will

enable scientists to continue to make breakthroughs in materials research for the next

generation of super-fast computers, data storage, sensors, pharmaceutical and medical

applications, materials processing, catalysis, biotechnology and clean energy technology.

ISIS is the major facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and has been operating for

over twenty years.

The Structure

To allow construction of the 2nd target station, a 750,000 tonne chalk hill had to be moved

100m. Because the site is in an area of outstanding natural beauty, a forest of 18,000 trees

was planted. The new hill has been shaped to resemble the natural contours of the area.

During the construction phase of the building, 450 contractors worked full time. During the

installation phase 300 people are involved in the project. Six fully loaded cranes working

simultaneously are used in the installation.

Because of the strength required in the structure, the frame of the building has twice the

amount of steel required for a normal building. The ISIS Second Target Station building has a

floor loading of 50 tonnes per square metre (compared to an average 5 tonnes per square

metre for commercial buildings). This is unique and reflects the amount of steel and concrete

used in the installation, particularly the monolith.

The site runs from 4 11KV power stations which produce 17 megawatts of power.

The Tunnel and Proton BeamThe proton beam is delivered to the target through an area known as the proton beam tunnel.

The 800 MeV proton beam from the ISIS synchrotron travels approximately 143m to the

second target. The beam consists of 1013 protons travelling together in two bunches at 84% of

the speed of light, separated by just 250 nanoseconds. The whole process takes 10

milliseconds from start to finish, during which time the protons have travelled 1655km, the

equivalent of a journey from London to Aberdeen and back. This happens 50 times a second.

The beam travels in a stainless steel vacuum vessel surrounded by thirty-five quadruple

magnets and eight bending magnets which keep it in alignment.

23,000 tonnes of steel are placed around the beam as a protection against radiation. The

maintenance entrance to the tunnel is known as the labyrinth and turns at right angles so that

radioactive particles cannot follow.

The MonolithThe structure which houses the neutron target is called the monolith. It is 7.5m high and 12m

in diameter. The walls are a combination of steel (4m thick) encased in 1m of concrete. Over

5,000 tonnes of special cast steel from Corus surrounds the target to ensure its safe working

operation. There are also 1000 tonnes of steel below ground to shield ground water from

radiation and a further 1000 tonnes of concrete outer shielding.

Because of the highly radioactive nature of the target area, maintenance can only be carried

out using robotic arms. The steel structure that holds the target is wheeled in and out on a

custom-built trolley running on guide rails.

The TargetThe proton beam is trained on a cylinder of tungsten just 6cm wide and 30cm long. The target

is clad in tantalum to prevent corrosion, cooled from its surface with deuterated water (D2O)

and surrounded by a water cooled beryllium reflector. One target lasts for approximately five

years.

The InstrumentsSeven new instruments for neutron scattering are available at the Second Target Station.

These will provide new opportunities in surface science, disordered materials, magnetic

diffraction, small angle neutron scattering and slow dynamics.

The instruments are surrounded by steel shielding blocks filled with boron and wax. This

provides protection from radiation for those carrying out experiments and stops neutrons from

one beamline interfering with experiments on neighbouring beamlines.

There is capacity for a maximum of 18 instruments to be installed at the new target station.

Muons as wellAs well as producing muons, ISIS is also an intense source of muons. Muons are used just

like neutrons – for exploring substances at the atomic level so that we can better understand

what their atoms are doing. Muons just provide a different way to do this. They can give us

information that is complementary to neutrons, so that some people use both neutrons and

muons to explore the same samples. Like neutrons, we can use muons to study magnetic or

superconducting samples, or molecular materials, or semiconductors.

What is a muon?! A muon is actually a heavy version of an electron – about 200 times

heavier in fact. Muons come in positive and negative varieties. They are not part of the

normal stuff of matter around us – they are made specially by collisions between the ISIS

proton beam and a thin carbon target that is located about 20m upstream of the neutron

target on TS-1. Muons only live for about 2 millionths of a second – so we have to do all our

measurements with them in about this time – but that is amply long enough for them to get an

atom’s-eye view of the substance we fire them into.

The muon facility on the south side of ISIS TS1 hall (which we call the European muon

facility) was built about 20 years ago, with funding from several European countries. On the

other side of TS1 hall is the RIKEN-RAL muon facility – built and run by the Japanese, a very

large UK/Japan science collaboration that has been running for over 20 years and will carry

on until 2017. ISIS is the only pulsed muon facility in Europe, and one of only two pulsed

muon facilities in the world (the other is at J-PARC in Japan). There are two more muon

facilities in the world that use continuous rather than pulsed beams – in Canada and in

Switzerland.

Timeline – ISIS Second Target Station Project

1984 ISIS accelerator and target station one begin operating

1985 ISIS inaugurated by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher 2002

 

First Science and Technical Advisory Committee July 2002

2003  

Detailed planning approval March 2003

Approve initial instrument suite June 2003

Approve target station design concept July 2003

First project board October 2003

Complete earth moving and landscaping November 2003

2004  

Complete access road 10 October 2004

Complete R78 technical support building November 2004

2005  

Begin R80 experimental hall construction January 2005

Complete R80 structural frame May 2005

Complete target monolith foundation September 2005

R80 weather-tight November 2005

2006 

Complete R80 construction March 2006

2007  

Complete target services area structure January 2007

Begin extracted proton beam installation in synchrotron February 2007

Complete target services area equipment December 2007

Complete target station December 2007

Complete extracted proton beam September 2007

First proton beam to target area December 2007

2008  

Begin instrument neutron guides January 2008

Begin first phase instrument detectors March 2008

Begin instrument commissioning April 2008

First complete instrument installation June 2008

First measurable neutrons from target July 2008

Target core fully operational July 2008

First neutrons produced August 2008

Start of experimental programme October 2008

2009Project complete with seven instruments operational August 2009

2011Phase 2 instruments project begins March 2011

2015Phase 2 instruments project completed June 2015

Harwell Science and Innovation Campus with ISIS in the foreground

Interior of ISIS target station 1, operational since 1984

Interior of ISIS target station 2 completed during 2009