Scientific Reviews: GEM: The General Materials Diffractometer at ISIS-Multibank Capabilities for Studying Crystalline and Disordered Materials

The aim of the GEM project at the ISIS pulsed neutron source was to develop a world-leading general materials diffractometer [1-5]. In mid-1995, a proposal from a Collaborative Research Group (CRG) headed by P. Day (The Royal Institution) and J. Enderby (University of Bristol) (Figure 1) was awarded funding by the U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for the construction of GEM. This came into operation during 1999 with continued work on enhancing the detector array resulting from funding obtained in collaboration with the RIKEN laboratory in Japan. Additional funding was subsequently obtained from EPSRC by the ISIS Facility in order to continue work on completion of the detector array.