Tutorial MT04—Advanced Materials Exploration with Neutrons

This tutorial will give an overview/introduction of a few commonly used materials characterization techniques using neutrons, such as SANS, NSE, BS/TOF, PDF, etc. In the Topical Outlines, we have detailed the contents of the lectures. Prevailing materials development requires detailed structural and dynamic information down to the atomic or molecular level. Neutron scattering includes a collection of techniques, both elastic and inelastic, complimentary to x-rays, which are unique in providing the ensemble-averaged information of the atomic spatial distributions and movements with sub-angstrom spatial and sub-picosecond temporal resolution. Compared to in-house materials characterization techniques, neutron scattering requires high intensity neutron beams, which are only available at large accelerators or research reactors hosted at the national laboratories. We hope to give an overview of this technique for the materials scientists who do not have ready access to it.

8:30 am
Welcome
Yang Zhang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

8:35 am
Small Angle Neutron Scattering
Yun Liu, National Institute of Standards and Technology

The lecture will discuss the applications of small angle neutron scattering to study a wide range of soft matter materials such as biological and polymeric materials.

9:10 am
SASView
Wojciech Potrzebowski, European Spallation Source

An introduction to the SAS data analysis capabilities of the community developed SASView package with information on how to contribute to its further enhancement.

9:45 am BREAK

10:15 am
Neutron Reflectometer
John Ankner, Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The lecture will cover the fundamental principles underlying neutron reflectivity measurements and how the technique can be applied to the study of  thin films of soft matter, energy materials, biomaterials and magnetic systems.

10:50 am
Neutron Pair Distribution Function
Katharine L. Page, Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

This lecture will give an introduction to the technique and applications of pair distribution function (PDF) analysis, with an emphasis on nanostructure and disorder in bulk functional materials.

1:30 pm
Time-of-Flight and Backscattering Spectroscopy
Madhusudan Tyagi, National Institute of Standards and Technology

The lecture will cover basics of backscattering and time-of-flight spectroscopy. Some scientific examples from backscattering and time of flight will be presented to illustrate data analysis and its interpretation.

2:10 pm
Neutron Spin Echo
Antonio Faraone, National Institute of Standards and Technology

This lecture will cover the basic principle of operation of NSE as well as data reduction. Some relevant scientific examples of NSE work will be covered and will be used to exemplify the basic ideas of data analysis and interpretation.

2:45 pm BREAK

3:15 pm
Simulation and Software
Anibal (Timmy) Ramirez-Cuesta, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

This lecture will cover simulations of inelastic neutron scattering spectra from atomistic models.

3:50 pm
How to Write Winning Neutron Scattering Proposals
Victoria Garcia-Sakai, ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Source, Science & Technology Facilities Council

This lecture will cover basic skills of writing successful neutron scattering proposals.

4:25 pm
Conclusion