The Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ—developments and upgrades for optimized user service

The Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is a popular user facility for neutron scattering and neutron imaging serving user groups from a widespread international community, see also http://sinq.web.psi.ch/. Beyond reliable routine operation, PSI seeks to play a leading role in the development of facilities, instrumentation, sample environment, and user programs. On the side of neutron instrumentation, three instruments are currently being built up in the SINQ hall: a cold neutron radiography station (ICON), a thermal triple-axis spectrometer (EIGER) and a backscattering spectrometer (MARS).