The test beamline of the European Spallation Source – Instrumentation development and wavelength frame multiplication

The European Spallation Source (ESS), scheduled to start operation in 2020, is aiming to deliver the most intense neutron beams for experimental research of any facility worldwide. Its long pulse time structure implies significant differences for instrumentation compared to other spallation sources which, in contrast, are all providing short neutron pulses. In order to enable the development of methods and technology adapted to this novel type of source well in advance of the first instruments being constructed at ESS, a test beamline (TBL) was designed and built at the BER II research reactor at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). Operating the TBL shall provide valuable experience in order to allow for a smooth start of operations at ESS. The beamline is capable of mimicking the ESS pulse structure by a double chopper system and provides variable wavelength resolution as low as 0.5% over a wide wavelength band between 1.6 A and 10 A by a dedicated wavelength frame multiplication (WFM) chopper system. WFM is proposed for several ESS instruments to allow for flexible time-of-flight resolution. Hence, ESS will benefit from the TBL which offers unique possibilities for testing methods and components. This article describes the main capabilities of the instrument, its performance as experimentally verified during the commissioning, and its relevance to currently starting ESS instrumentation projects.