This work presents an automated rapid-cooling approach for high-temperature vacuum furnaces used in neutron experimentation. The system is designed to shorten the time between experiments while preserving the controlled, repeatable sample environment that scattering measurements require.
The project grew out of my work on extreme sample-environment hardware and combines thermal-system design, instrumentation, and experimental validation. The resulting technology enables higher-throughput neutron experiments and was recognized as a Featured Article in Review of Scientific Instruments.