Applied Science Group

People & contacts Science highlights Instruments Software & tools

The Applied Science group operates a suite of instruments well suited for a wide range of applied research and industry applications in R&D and NDT. These include neutron imaging, strain scanning and irradiation. Correspondingly the Applied Science Group is also in charge of the Industry Liaison Unit (ILU), which is managing the industrial exploitation of the ILL instrument suite for scattering and imaging characterisation. The group is dedicated to the characterisation and collaborative development of advanced materials and processes that serve industrial progress and societal needs. Typical fields of research include energy materials and devices, advanced manufacturing, soil and geology, nuclear safety, construction materials, life science, space as well as cultural & natural heritage science.

Applied Science Instruments

The group operates the imaging instruments NeXT, MoTo, PorTo and ThRILL (currently under construction), as well as the strain scanning diffractometer SALSA and the TENIS irradiation station.

The recently appointed leader of the Applied Science Instrument Group is Markus Strobl, currently vice-president of the International Society of Neutron Radiography, ISNR, and board member of the Swiss Neutron Science Society (SNSS).

TENIS Applied Science Engineering

TENIS is a beamline fully dedicated to thermal and epithermal neutron irradiation to study e.g. failure modes in electronic devices exposed to irradiation which is mainly performed within the framework of the Large-Scale Instrument Characterisation programme of the IRTNanoelec. Other applications are related to radiation detectors, shielding materials etc.

Salsa Applied Science Engineering

SALSA is a high flux diffractometer dedicated to the determination of residual stresses in a broad range of bulk structural materials. It is designed for strain mapping in "real" engineering components and optimised for stress determination in metallic components, even under applied loads and manufacturing conditions.

PorTo Applied Science Chemistry of materials, Reactions and catalysis, Energy, Environment

PorTo is a cold neutron imaging instrument optimised for high-resolution imaging across a broad range of scientific applications. The instrument which can be operated at different beamports of the ILL typically offers high flux for high time and spatial resolution studies including in-situ and operando work.

MoTo Applied Science Chemistry of materials, Reactions and catalysis, Energy, Environment, Life sciences

MoTo (Monochromatic Tomography) is an instrument that provides monochromatic neutrons for the application and development of advanced imaging modes. MoTo is designed for long experiments enabling developments and demonstration of new approaches.

NeXT Applied Science Engineering, Energy, Environment

NeXT (Neutron and X-ray Tomography) is a high flux cold neutron imaging instrument with additional concurrent X-ray imaging capabilities. These two modalities can be operated simultaneously, and a number of additional imaging contrast modalities such as polarised neutrons and neutron grating interferometery are offered.