Time of flight grazing incidence small angle neutron scattering

Grazing incidence small angle neutron scattering (GISANS) overcomes the limitations of conventional small angle scattering with respect to extremely small sample volumes in the thin film geometry. In time of flight (TOF) mode neutrons with a broad range of wavelengths are used simultaneously and recorded as a function of their respective times of flight. The combination of both, TOF-GISANS, enables the simultaneous performance of several GISANS measurements, which differ in wavelength. As a consequence, within one measurement a full set of GISANS pattern related to different scattering vectors, different scattering depths and resolutions result. This allows the detection of nanostructures with a chemical sensitivity. The possibilities of TOF-GISANS are demonstrated by the simple example of polymer nano-dots located on top of a silicon surface. As probed with atomic force microscopy (AFM) the nano-dots exhibit a large characteristic nearest neighbour distance of 545 nm and a surface coverage of 28%. From the analysis of the wavelength dependent data in combination with AFM the mass density of the polymer nano-dots is determined to be equal to the bulk value. A comparison to common single wavelength GISANS experiments is shown.