Quantitative texture measurements using neutron time-of-flight diffraction

The neutron time-of-flight diffractometer HIPPO (High Pressure Preferred Orientation) was conceived and constructed as a joint effort between the University of California and Los Alamos National Laboratory. The unique detector coverage of HIPPO, with a total of 1360 He-3 detectors arranged in 50 panels, allows measurement of the sample orientation distribution function with rotation around only one axis. This capability allows design of sample environments, such as furnaces or loads cells, to measure texture in situ at non-ambient conditions. The high flux of the LANSCE spallation neutron source shortens count-times in some cases to less than 10 minutes to collect enough data for the determination of the ODF, opening the possibility of time-resolved texture studies. The capabilities for texture measurements of HIPPO are outlined and some examples of experiments conducted with HIPPO, such as phase transformation textures, are given.