NEUTRON POWDER DIFFRACTION AND NEW MATERIALS

Neutron powder diffraction was the first application of neutron scattering, and won the 1994 Nobel prize for Shull. It obtained a new lease of life with Rietveld's 1967 ‘profile refinement method’, and since then has been among the essential techniques applied to all new inorganic materials. In particular, it has proved essential for the study of mineral and magnetic structures, structural transitions, ferro-electrics, solid liquids and gases, ice structures, hydrogen in metals, zeolites, solid electrolytes, quasi-crystals, heavy metal oxides, mixed valence, superconductors, GMR materials, and many others. New kinds of detectors are rapidly extending the power of the technique In this article, we will introduce the experimental techniques, and illustrate their use for new materials.