Chemistry

The influence of structure is everywhere; the properties of water and ice, the hardness of metals, the strength of magnets, the biology of DNA or the effect of antibodies on viruses – all depend on structure. Crystallography is studied at the ILL in a broad sense, using both single crystal and powder diffraction. Some structural studies may require small-angle-scattering as well.
Neutron diffraction is ideal for determining the structure of materials containing light atoms such as hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.  We need to understand the structure of materials before we can understand their properties and how they react.

How neutrons help understanding the structure of new materials : Neutrons and new Materials (pdf file, 1.78 Mb)