Sample containment for neutron and high-energy x-ray scattering studies of hydrogen fluoride and related molecular species

The design of a suite of sample cells and sample preparation facilities to investigate the structure and dynamics of chemically reactive molecular fluorides, using high-energy x-ray and neutron scattering, is reported. A detailed discussion of both the neutronic and chemical considerations is provided, in support of the choice of the material of cell construction for both structural and dynamical experiments. The discussion of this suite of equipment also includes a detailed design of a hybrid high-vacuum Schlenk line for sample preparation. These cells were specifically designed to study hydrogen fluoride but may be used for other species that exhibit similar chemical reactivity. Background considerations for liquid diffraction experiments are also discussed and show that in designing cells for liquid samples, or samples that contain a large structurally amorphous fraction, crystalline sample containment affords far more tractable data analysis.