A holder to rotate sample cells to avoid sedimentation in small-angle neutron scattering and ultra small-angle neutron scattering experiments

Sedimentation, or creaming, of samples can significantly alter the amount of material in the beam during small-angle scattering experiments. Simple rotating mounts that ameliorate this effect are described and the design criteria are carefully discussed. A modular design permits simple adaptation to various instruments and different sample cells. Temperature control in the range 10 degrees C below ambient to about +40 degrees C has been implemented using air flow and a Peltier device. Example ultra small-angle neutron scattering data are shown that exploit the simplicity of the mounts and the capability to position several samples close together on a translation stage.