Tyrex-2
Polarised helium-3 filling station
The instrument and its team
The principle of the filling station
Polarised neutron beams are essential for certain fields of research, such as the study of the magnetism of matter.
Neutrons can be polarised by reflection (supermirrors), by diffraction (Heusler crystals) or by absorption (polarized 3He).
In the latter case, 3He has to be polarised first and then placed in cells called "spin filters", hence Tyrex-2.
This approach provides very interesting properties:
- simple transmission device, with predictable characteristics
- no impact on the optical functions of the instrument
- can be configured into virtually any shape
- homogeneous polarisation over the entire beam section
- sufficiently wide polychromatism for “Time-Of-Flight” instruments