Speaker
Description
The IMAGINE instrument, located within the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR)’s cold guide hall at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is receiving a major upgrade to enable the use of Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP). The IMAGINE instrument is a Quasi Laue neutron diffractometer used primarily for the study of protein crystallography. Within the field of protein crystallography, neutrons play an important role by precisely locating the hydrogen atoms within the protein, which dictates how the protein will interact with other molecules. However useful in its current state, neutron diffraction in protein crystallography is significantly limited by the large incoherent scattering cross section of the hydrogen nucleus (79.9 barn) compared to its coherent scattering cross section (1.8 barn). Without the ability to increase the neutron flux on the sample, these limitations will be solved by physically manipulating the scattering cross sections with the use of DNP. By aligning the spins of the hydrogen nucleus and the incident proton, a reduction in signal to noise ratio can be realized that enhances the instrument performance by a factor of 50.
Significant upgrades for this instrument include the sample area, instrument utilities, and upstream optics. Utilizing common engineering design tools, a detailed design and plan were completed and are being implemented and installed. This presentation will go over the design intent of the IMAGINE-X instrument, and provide a timeline of fabrication, procurement, and installation of this significant upgrade. Design of key components, unforeseen challenges, and installation will be discussed.
