We CANS do it: would a SANS on PC-CANS be worth it?

The proposed prototype Canadian Compact Accelerator-driven Neutron Source (PC-CANS) presents a cost-effective solution to address the shrinking global availability of neutron beams. Designed to support a range of applications, including Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), neutron imaging, boron neutron capture therapy, and radioisotope production, PC-CANS aims to restore and enhance Canada’s neutron science capabilities. Benchmarking against the LOQ instrument at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source demonstrates that a PC-CANS SANS, despite operating with lower neutron flux, would provide comparable data quality for a variety of scientifically interesting samples with only modest increases in measurement duration. A set of well-characterized samples—including lipid bilayers for membrane structure and lipid domain monitoring, as well as scattering standards such as meso-porous silicalite and silver behenate—were measured on LOQ under both standard and reduced-flux configurations. The initial results show that with only an approximate sixfold increase in acquisition time, data was reproducible at a usable quality. This suggests that an SANS instrument at PC-CANS will be a valuable tool for a wide range of scientific fields, from material science to biophysics. With ongoing improvements, ranging from technological advances to AI-driven data collection, PC-CANS has the potential to become a key resource for Canadian researchers and further foster international scientific collaboration.