Expanding Neutron Capacity at the ESS through Symbiotic Instruments: SLEIPNIR & Remora

Abstract

The long pulse of the European Spallation Source (ESS) offers unique opportunities to host more than one neutron instrument on a single beam-port. Here, we present two symbiotic instrument concepts designed for previously unexploited neutrons, without imposing significant perturbation on existing or planned beamlines. The first concept employs a doubly focusing dual-monochromator system to vertically translate the neutron beam, enabling compact instruments to be stacked within spatially constrained beam ports inaccessible to conventional instruments. The second extracts excess spectral bandwidth from an existing guide via Bragg reflection upstream of the flagship instrument's chopper system, feeding a second instrument. Both concepts are optimized using gradient-descent Monte Carlo ray-tracing simulations in McStas and benchmarked against existing productive instruments at other sources. Despite operating under significant geometric and flux constraints, the resulting instruments demonstrate performance comparable to well-established reference instruments at the ILL. The two concepts together illustrate a modular and cost-effective route to expanding ESS scientific capacity, using the facility's resources that would otherwise go unused.