ISIS@MACH
ISIS MAterials Characterization Hub
1) Description
ISIS@MACH (MAterials Characterisation Hub), is a Research Infrastructure (RI) based in the in the Region Lazio, acting as the first Hub of the UK based ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source, supported by Region Lazio under the specific funding programme POR FESR 2014-2020 to strengthen Research Infrastructures.
ISIS@MACH is an open access RI seeking to answer relevant science questions about the fundamental nature of composite materials at the atomic and molecular scale. The research facility is located in University of Rome Tor Vergata’s Campus with an outpost located at Enrico Fermi Research Center.
2) Objectives and Results
ISIS@MACH represents a new stage in the longstanding relationship between the two institutions, dating back to 1985, which will enable both Italian and UK researchers to pool knowledge and experience with collaborators across UK and Italy, respectively, recognizing the value of integrating light, neutron and muon probes bring to multidisciplinary research.
ISIS@MACH provides essential tools for carrying out comprehensive multidisciplinary projects for the understanding of properties of composite materials, from atomic-characterisation to synthesis, technique development to numerical simulation. It will also strengthen links between Italian researchers and the wider neutron and muon communities. ISIS@MACH is the first ISIS hub outside of the UK, providing neutron and muon users with a new suite of unique and complementary characterisation techniques.
The creation of the Hub is a natural consequence of the continuous collaboration between ISIS and “University of Rome Tor Vergata”, involving a large number of students and researchers, and an increasing number of industrial partners.
Another area to benefit will be cultural heritage research. Neutrons and muons are non-destructive tools for peering deep into materials, which can provide a range of insights, for example how an object was made, the impact of conservation methodologies or whether and how the object has been restored.
ISIS@MACH offers access to both an integrated suite of probes, instrumentation and services on site and, through the ‘ISIS@MACH Neutron Gate’, to the suite of neutron&muon beamlines at the ISIS facility.
ISIS@MACH suite of instruments and service are free at the point of access for academic and industry researchers, provided the results from experiments are published in the public domain. Fully confidential fast-tracked use of the instruments is also available for industrial and commercial customers.
Users- regardless of their affiliation, area of expertise or field of activity – may apply for access to ISIS@MACH’s or jointly to ISIS@MACH’s and ISIS’s, by submitting proposals using the ISIS@MACH online system. These are reviewed by Facility Access Panel’s (FAP’s). There are a number of routes to access beamtime to ISIS@MACH, that are dependent on the urgency and complexity of the user requests (see Beamtime Proposal Guidance).
Approved proposals allow proponent users to access to ISIS@MACH’s integrated suite of instruments, probes, service and support competences for performing the research on site – for synthesis and growth, for fine analysis of surfaces and imaging, for theory and simulation; to access the suite beamlines at ISIS facility, which applies only for those users requesting an additional analysis with neutron and muon probes “ISIS@MACH Neutron Gate”.
3) Fundings
ISIS@MACH received financial support of Lazio Regione approved by Giunta Regionale n. G10795, 7 August 2019 published by BURL n. 69 27 August 2019