BNL Furnace

The Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) Furnace is primarily a vacuum furnace; nevertheless, it can also be reconfigured to run in air or an inert gas. The main disadvantage of running the BNL Furnace in a gas atmosphere is the maximum temperature limitation imposed by its lack of cooling. This system is more robust than the other general use furnace (F-1600C), but has a lower maximum temperature.

General Description

Sample Preparation

Experiment Planning

• • Sample visibility of 350^o in scattering plane, 20^o out of plane
  • Irradiative heating via a cylindrical element driven by a high voltage AC power
  • Active Heating/Sample Zone : 6.5 cm diameter x 8.5 cm length
  • Interlocked alarm system for pressure, and temperature
  • Pressure relief valve rated to 10 psi has been installed in the system
  • Sample Temperature Stability: +1^oC at 600^oC
  • Sample Holders: A user designed (NIST assistance is available) sample holder compatible with our probes is required. There are two possible sample mounts: A 3/8" diameter copper post with either a 1/4-20 female thread or a M4-0.7 male thread; and a copper base designed to fit our single-crystal sample cans. Ventilated (i.e. non-pressure building) crucible-type holders made of niobium or platinum are ideal; however, special sample mounts can be designed. Any sealed sample holder must be tested off-line at the maximum desired temperature before loading into the furnace to ensure that an over-pressure burst will not occur on the beam line.
  • Sample Geometry:
    • Note that the beam center is 152.4 cm (6 inches) above the bottom of the furnace, and the standard mounting post height is 3.5 cm (1 3/8 inches) from the center of the beam.
    • Any Cd masking MUST be done on the outside of the furnace
  • Plan ahead. At a minimum it will take 2 hours for the sample to reach 600^oC.
  • Leave time at the end of the experiment to allow the sample cell to cool in order to open the vessel.
  • Design the experiment with proper sample mounting and ultimate sample temperature requirements in mind.