The European Spallation Source (ESS) is currently under construction in Lund, Sweden and is set to become the most powerful neutron source in Europe and world-wide. The PSI-ESS project is delivering state-of-the-art contributions to five instruments at ESS, which will be home to a suite of 15 novel instruments. Among the five PSI instruments, the reflectometer ESTIA stands out as it is delivered in its entirety by PSI. ESTIA relies on novel Selene guide neutron optics that were pioneered at PSI and allow to focus on samples as small as 1x1 mm². The Selene concept was originally developed at the reflectometer AMOR at SINQ, where it is now fully operational. However, ESS with its superior flux will elevate this concept further.
ESTIA has now achieved a major milestone as a major component of the Selene guide optics—the so-called Selene guide carrier 1—has been shipped to ESS end of June enabled by the hard work of countless PSI employees distributed over several of PSI’s divisions. This allowed the two NUM employees Alessandra Luchini (ESTIA instrument scientist) and Sven Schütz (ESTIA lead engineer) to travel to ESS during the first half of July, to install the Selene carrier 1 at ESS (see image).