A Brief History of JCNS

15 July 1958

Detailed planning takes place to establish the Institute for Reactor Materials and the Institute for Neutron Physics.

28 Sep. 1961

Inauguration of the Nuclear Research Centre Jülich (Kernforschungsanlage Jülich, KFA).

9 Oct. 1961

Establishment of the work group for Neutron Physics.

14 Nov. 1962

The reactor FRJ-2 (DIDO) at the Research Centre Jülich goes critical for the first time.

1963

Jülich is involved as a possible location for a European very high flux reactor; the reactor was established, however, in Grenoble (->ILL).  A collaboration was then set up with Grenoble and within this framework,  a series of experiments and research projects were planned to take place in Jülich, and continue to be conducted by Jülich scientists today.

12 June 1964

Re-organization of the “Workgroup Institute for Reactor Materials” to “Institute for Reactor Materials”.  Re-organization of the “Workgroup Institute for Neutron Physics” to the “Institute for Neutron Physics”.

May 1966

After much discussion, the scope of solid state physics is broadened and the Institute for Neutron Physics is brought together with the relevant department of the Institute for Reactor Materials to form the Institute for Neutron and Solid State Physics. (Approved by the administrative board 23.11.1966).

1968

An external building housing the neutron measuring instruments is constructed adjacent to the reactor building.  After moderation in a cold source, the neutrons are fed into the experimental hall using a neutron guide.  Instruments: small angle neutron scattering instrument, diffuse elastic diffractometer, backscattering spectrometer, cold three-axis spectrometer.  Some of the instruments were novel at the time, such as the small angle neutron scattering instrument and the backscattering spectrometer.

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The “old“ building housing the measuring instruments. The detector pipe of the small angle neutron scattering instrument protrudes out of the building.
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At the back on the right is the diffuse elastic diffractometer, behind which was the test area of the small angle neutron scatterer. Pictured are Mr Broch and Mr Pohl, the two technicians responsible for the diffractometer and the small angle neutron scatterer.

May 1970

In an effort to establish a central German solid state institute, after long and detailed discussions the Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart (Max Planck Institute) and Jülich (KFA) were founded.  The Institute for Neutron and Solid State Physics serves as the basis for a total of 10 sub-institutes, three of which are for neutron scattering (Prof. T. Springer, Prof. H. Stiller and Prof. W. Schmatz).

The Institute for Solid State Physics Jülich (IFF) is born.  

KFA Scientific Report 1970:

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KFA Jahresbericht 1970:

May 1981

Jülich produces a "Feasibility Study on Spallation Neutron Sources”.

21 Nov. 1986

The external neutron laboratory "ELLA“ next to the research reactor  DIDO is ready for use after the “old“ measurement hall was dismantled.  A new cold source was installed along with the complete renovation of the neutron guidance system with 58Ni. Two classic "pin-hole" small angle scattering  instruments were newly installed, a double crystal diffractometer for “ultra“ small angle scattering, a backscattering spectrometer (PI-2), a diffractometer for diffuse elastic diffraction, a spin-echo spectrometer, and later a further small angle scattering instrument with a focusing mirror for momentum transfers Q in areas from 1e-4 1/A.

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FRJ-2 Research reactor (DIDO), next to it on the left is the neutron laboratory "ELLA".
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View inside the neutron guidance hall with the Spin-Echo Spectrometer, the two small angle scattering diffractometers 1 and 2, with the third situated in-between.

1993

Based on experience gained during the feasibility study on the SNQ, Forschungszentrum Jülich provides important contributions to the technical design of the European Spallation Source (ESS).  From 2000 onwards, the IFF is put in charge of the special interest group of the European community of users (as head of the Scientific Advisory Committee) and part of the body of ESS directors (Science Director of the ESS is Prof. Dieter Richter).

Aug 1997

Prof. Dr. Thomas Brückel is appointed Director at the Institute of Solid State Research, Sub-Institute Scattering Methods in Solid State Research. At the same time, he is appointed University Professor at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen).

2002

Jülich puts itself forward as one of the five possible sites for the establishment of the ESS.

June 2004

Forschungszentrum Jülich signs a Cooperation Agreement with the Technische Universität München, the operator of the new research neutron source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz FRM II.  Subsequently, Forschungszentrum Jülich equips an external station to be used by the Munich research reactor on the campus in Garching.  Seven measurement instruments for use in neutron research to the value of a total of 45 million Euro are transported to Garching and operated independently by Jülich scientists.                    

16 Feb. 2006

The Jülich Centre for Neutron Science is established.
Jülich’s expertise in neutron research (Institute for Neutron Scattering and the Institute for Scattering Methods) is now merged into one institute.  Prof. Dieter Richter, Director at the Institute for Solid State Research, describes the watershed in the following way: “We have 44 successful years behind us, working with the Jülich reactor.  During this time, valuable research has been performed, but also application-oriented products,“ ….“Our future lies in working at external neutron sources, namely at the research reactor FRM II in Garching, at the spallation neutron source in Oak Ridge (Tennessee, USA) and at the high-flux reactor (ILL) in Grenoble (France)."

2 May 2006

DIDO is finally shut down after almost 44 years of operation..

Nov. 2008

A co-operation agreement is signed with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Through the construction and operation of the NSE at the SNS, we are allowed access to the instruments BASIS and POWGEN at ORNL (planned since 2002; inauguration 5 November 2009).

JCNS operates the instrument SNS-NSE until 2021.

Sep. 2010

Expansion is planned:

In southern Sweden, the most powerful neutron source in the world is due to go on line – the European Spallation Source ESS in Lund.  Forschungszentrum Jülich will play an active part in this and planning begins.

2010-2014

Start of the ESS Design-Update funded by the BMBF, in which altogether seven institutes – FZJ, HZG, HZB, DESY, KIT, HZDR, and TUM - participated. The lead management was located at JCNS, Forschungszentrum Jülich. One key result of the design work was the seven proposals for novel neutron instruments submitted to the ESS.

January 2011

Reorganization of the institutes IFF, ISB and IBN. JCNS is made into a separate, independent institute, comprising of the Institute for Neutron Scattering (headed by Prof. Dieter Richter) and the Institute of Scattering Methods (headed by Prof. Thomas Brückel).  At the same time, the Institute for Neutron Scattering becomes part of the newly established Institute of Complex Systems (ICS).

January 2011

JCNS intensifies the collaboration with the neutron source FRM II. Forschungszentrum Jülich and JCNS enter into the collaboration with the Technical University Munich, the Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht (later Hereon) and the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin at the FRM II.  The cooperation funded by the BMBF and the Bavarian Ministry of Science will have a budget of around € 300 million from 2011 – 2020. In addition, the national centres within the Helmholtz Association agreed to invest approximately € 30.3 million per year in neutron research.

Dec. 2013

The project for an accelerator-based neutron source is initiated. Initial discussions between JCNS and experts from RWTH Aachen University take place and the first theoretical calculations begin.

Sept. 2014

A collaboration with TU Dresden for the development and testing of thermal and cold moderator systems is established.

Sept. 2015

The first HBS Workshop with experts and partners from Germany and abroad takes place at the Rheinhotel Schulz in Unkel.

2015 - 2022

FZJ contributed through JCNS to the BrightnESS and BrightnESS2 projects by the management of a "central hub" (Germany, Switzerland and Czech Republic) in terms of the coordination and monitoring of the in-kind contributions delivered by these countries to ESS.

2016

The division JCNS-3 "Neutron Analytics for Energy Research" is founded.

Experiments for target development of the HBS at the COSY accelerator of the research centre is planned.

2017

Prof. Stephan Förster is appointed director of JCNS-1.

2018

The division ‘Neutron Scattering’ (JCNS-1) and ‘Scattering Methods’ (JCNS-2) are renamed as “Neutron Scattering and Soft Matter” and “Quantum Materials and Collective Phenomena”.

The JCNS-4 “Neutron Methods” located in Garching at the research reactor FRM II is founded.

Sept. 2019

The construction of a prototype of the HBS neutron target in the Big Karl Area is designed together with the institutes ZEA-1 and IKP-4, and successfully installed by the end of 2022.

2020

The MLZ cooperation agreement between its partners (FRM II, FZJ and HZG) is extended for a further 5+5 years. Also the agreement between ILL and FZJ is extended for a further six years.

Publication of the Conceptual Design Report on the HBS.

Dec. 2022

First neutrons at the HBS target prototype at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

A Brief History of JCNS
HBS TMR mock-up with 8 experimental ports in test-operation at FZJ.
Forschungszentrum Jülich
A Brief History of JCNS
Technical Design Report on the HBS
Forschungszentrum Jülich

May 2023

A project to construct and operate a neutron reflectometer at the HBS test station at Forschungszentrum Jülich is agreed upon with the Laboratoire Leon Brillouin of the CEA Saclay and successfully realized.

Sept. 2023

Publication of the Technical Design Report on the HBS.

Jan. 2024

Prof. Mirijam Zobel is appointed director of JCNS-3. Since 2012, she has been Head of the Institute of Crystallography at the RWTH Aachen.

Sources:

(In German)
Das Forschungszentrum. Eine Geschichte der KFA Jülich von ihrer Gründung bis 1980,
Bernd-A. Rusinek,Frankfurt/M., New York, 1996

An excerpt can be found at: File:   IFF-Kapitel_aus_der_Geschichte_der_Kernforschungsanlage.pdf (PDF, 110 kB)
Chronik File:   Chronik_Auszug_IFF.pdf (PDF, 132 kB)
along with press releases

Many thanks to Bernd-A.Rusinek; historian at the Central Library, who kindly made all the old source materials available.                                   

Additional pictures (contributed by Dietmar Schwahn)

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Last Modified: 22.10.2024