Neutron-resonance capture analysis on the VESUVIO spectrometer: towards high-throughput material characterisation

We discuss the possibility to characterise nuclear quantum effects on the dynamics of heavy nuclei by means of neutron-resonance capture analysis on the VESUVIO spectrometer at ISIS. VESUVIO is equipped with yttrium-aluminium-perovskite gamma-sensitive detectors that can be used to record the Doppler-broadened line shape from a neutron-induced resonance in the neutron-energy range between 1 and 100 eV. The measurement of nuclear momentum distributions for heavy atoms using deep inelastic neutron scattering, the traditional technique for light-weight nuclei from hydrogen to fluorine, is currently severely limited by the resolution of the instrument. On the other hand, gamma-Dopplerimetry studies as the one presented here on gold allow for exquisite precision and short data-collection measurements, of the order of one hour, for the measurements, rendering the technique ideal for high-throughput investigations.