ABSTRACT
This paper describes the physical modelling of neutron scattering in two polycrystalline inclusion compounds, fully deuterated clathrate hydrate andC60, each with paramagnetic oxygen as guest molecules. For studying the suitability of these materials for neutron moderation to very low energies, the model includes, in addition to the magnetic neutron scattering by the oxygen, the nuclear scattering by all constituents. The theoretical total cross sections are calculated based on the phonon density of states obtained by density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations. At low temperatures, the developed scattering kernels are in good agreement with experimental neutron scattering data reported in the literature. At 20 K and above, a Lorentzian distribution for the zero-field splitting of the magnetic substates of the spin triplet of the oxygen molecules helps to reproduce magnetic peaks observed in inelastic neutron scattering experiments better than the original theory based on a single-valued splitting constant. Neutron spectra obtained by Monte Carlo simulations in infinite media are presented, highlighting the potential use ofO2-containing fully deuterated clathrate hydrate as a neutron moderator for the production of very cold neutrons.
ABSTRACT
Temperature-dependent dynamic structure factors S(Q, ω) for liquid water have been calculated using a composite model, which is based on the decoupling approximation of the mean square displacement of the water molecules into diffusion and solid-like vibrational parts. The solid-like vibrational part Svib(Q, ω) is calculated with the phonon expansion method established in the framework of the incoherent Gaussian approximation. The diffusion part Sdiff(Q, ω) relies on the Egelstaff-Schofield translational diffusion model corrected for jump diffusions and rotational diffusions with the Singwi-Sjölander random model and Sears expansion, respectively. Systematics of the model parameters as a function of temperature were deduced from quasi-elastic neutron scattering data analysis reported in the literature and from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations relying on the TIP4P/2005f model. The resulting S(Q, ω) values are confronted by means of Monte Carlo simulations to inelastic neutron scattering data measured with IN4, IN5, and IN6 time-of-flight spectrometers of the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) (Grenoble, France). A modest range of temperatures (283-494 K) has been investigated with neutron wavelengths corresponding to incident neutron energies ranging from 0.57 to 67.6 meV. The neutron-weighted multiphonon spectra deduced from the ILL data indicate a slight overestimation by the MD simulations of the frequency shift and broadening of the librational band. The descriptive power of the composite model was suited for improving the comparison to experiments via Bayesian updating of prior model parameters inferred from MD simulations. The reported posterior temperature-dependent densities of state of hydrogen in H2O would represent valuable insights for studying the collective coupling interactions in the water molecule between the inter- and intramolecular degrees of freedom.
ABSTRACT
The design of nuclear reactors and neutron moderators require a good representation of the interaction of low energy (E < 1 eV) neutrons with hydrogen and deuterium containing materials. These models are based on the dynamics of the material, represented by its vibrational spectrum. In this paper, we show calculations of the frequency spectrum for light and heavy water at room temperature using two flexible point charge potentials: SPC-MPG and TIP4P/2005f. The results are compared with experimental measurements, with emphasis on inelastic neutron scattering data. Finally, the resulting spectra are applied to calculation of neutron scattering cross sections for these materials, which were found to be a significant improvement over library data.
