Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

China's first pulsed neutron source

Nature Materials volume 15, pages 689–691 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

The China Spallation Neutron Source is expected to produce its first beam in 2017. Hesheng Chen and Xun-Li Wang provide an overview of this user facility and what it means for science in China and elsewhere.

The decision to locate the CSNS in the southern city of Dongguan, close to the border with Hong Kong, was strategic. Historically, major user research facilities have been located in Beijing, which has a high concentration of renowned universities and many top research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). When CAS began to develop the plan for a neutron scattering facility in 2005, it instead looked to the southern part of China, which was booming economically but had few large-scale research centres. In partnership with the local government, the goal was to elevate scientific research and technology development in the most economically active region in China, matching scientific development that had previously centred on cities in the north and east of the country. In the long run, these measures will also help to promote economic restructuring in the region by creating value-added, high-tech products.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Aerial photo of the China Spallation Neutron Source taken in April 2016.

CHINA SPALLATION NEUTRON SOURCE

References

  1. Keimer, B., Kivelson, S. A., Norman, M. R., Uchida, S. & Zaanen, J. Nature 518, 179–186 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Shrestha, U. R. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 13886–13891 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ma, D. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett, 108, 085501 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Spooner, S., Hubbard, C. R., Wang, X-L., Payzant, E. A. & Wright, M. C. Neutron News 10, 26–30 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Grosse, M. & Ottlinger, P. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 437, 88–92 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Mason, T. E. Phys. Today 59, 44 (May, 2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hesheng Chen is at the China Spallation Neutron Source, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10049, China,

    Hesheng Chen

  2. Xun-Li Wang is in the Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China and at the CityU Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China,

    Xun-Li Wang

Authors
  1. Hesheng Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xun-Li Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hesheng Chen or Xun-Li Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chen, H., Wang, XL. China's first pulsed neutron source. Nature Mater 15, 689–691 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4655

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4655

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing