Research Technology
Neutron scattering techniques help to reveal the secrets of nature at microscopic and atomic level.
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DYNAMIC
DEVELOPMENT
Neutron scattering techniques are powerful methods to analyse both solid and fluid (condensed) matter. Generally monochromatic neutrons are used for scattering experiments. The incident neutrons are scattered without change in their energy (elastic scattering), which provides information about the arrangement of atoms in material. The neutrons can undergo a change in the energy on scattering, which gives information about the movement of atoms in a fluid, i.e. the dynamics of the atom. |
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Bertram N. Brockhouse
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, receives one half of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics for the development of neutron spectroscopy. |
Clifford G. Shull
MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, receives one half of the 1994, Nobel Prize in Physics for development of the neutron diffraction technique. |
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| These
methods, rewarded with the Nobel prize in 1994, are used in widely
different areas such as the study of new ceramic superconductors,
catalytic exhaust cleaning, elastic properties of polymers and virus
structure. Neutron research lead to several Nobel prizes and supported
other topics (see www.nobel.se).
New techniques using neutron research are evolving, based on the well-developed principles of the initial work. This ensures the use of research reactors even if they have lower neutron |
fluxes
compared to the high flux reactors delivering 1018 - 1019
neutrons/m2/s. New ideas are evolving as 3-D tomography,
tomography snapshots and applications in environment, mining and
industry.
A strong community of several thousands of researchers are using research reactors. However, new ideas demand new co-operations and new co-ordinated research interfacing different branches of science. |
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