Neutron diffraction

Science with neutrons
Foundations
Neutron temperature Flux, Radiation, Transport Cross section, Absorption, Activation
Neutron scattering
Neutron diffraction Small-angle neutron scattering GISANS Reflectometry Inelastic neutron scattering Triple-axis spectrometer Time-of-flight spectrometer Backscattering spectrometer Spin-echo spectrometer
Other applications
Neutron tomography Activation analysis, Prompt gamma activation analysis Fundamental research with neutrons: Ultracold neutrons, Interferometry Fast neutron therapy Neutron capture therapy
Infrastructure
Neutron sources: Research reactor, Spallation, Neutron moderator Neutron optics: Reflector, Supermirror Detection
Neutron facilities
America: HFIR, LANSCE, NIST CNR -SNS Australia: OPAL Asia: J-PARC, HANARO Europe: BER II, FRM II, ILL, ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, JINR, SINQ Historic: IPNS, HFBR Under construction: ESS
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Neutron diffraction or elastic neutron scattering is the application of neutron scattering to the determination of the atomic and/or magnetic structure of a material. A sample to be examined is placed in a beam of thermal or cold neutrons to obtain a diffraction pattern that provides information of the structure of the material. The technique is similar to X-ray diffraction but due to their different scattering properties, neutrons and X-rays provide complementary information: X-Rays are suited for superficial analysis, strong x-rays from synchrotron radiation are suited for shallow depths or thin specimens, while neutrons having high penetration depth are suited for bulk samples.^[1]