News

From 2 to 5 June 2025, the Journées de la Diffusion Neutronique (JDN) brought together the French neutron scattering community for a lively edition by the shores of the Annecy lake.

The ILL has just received a firm commitment from its Associate countries, France, the UK and Germany, to continue operation until 2033. “We have been working very hard to secure a unanimous commitment from all three Associate countries and are delighted with the decision,” says ILL Director, Ken Andersen, “The ILL is now in a position to plan scientific operation until the end of 2033.”

As a long-standing partner of Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), the Institut Laue-Langevin is happy to play a key role in the GATES project (Grenoble ATtractiveness and ExcellenceS) - an ambitious initiative designed to foster top-level research and reinforce Grenoble’s position as a leading international scientific hub.

This prestigious award recognises von Klitzing’s remarkable contributions in soft matter physics and her pioneering use of neutrons to unravel complex interface phenomena – in particular through experiments at the ILL.

Research is constantly ongoing to optimise the properties of shampoos. This study could help design better, more sustainable hair-care products with improved conditioning effects. It was developed at ILL in collaboration with L'Oréal.

Some magnetic materials feature peculiar states the fundamental understanding of which may pave the way for future applications. Neutron experiments have just revealed that they can be unexpectedly stable with respect to microscopic disorder.

In everyday life, we typically encounter water in one of three familiar states – solid, liquid or gas. But there are in fact many more phases, some of which – predicted to exist at high temperature and pressure – are so strange they’re referred to as exotic. State-of-the-art neutron spectrometers and sample environment infrastructures at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) have enabled the first experimental observation of one of these exotic phases – plastic ice VII.

By linking theoretical predictions with neutron experiments, researchers have found evidence for quantum spin ice in the material Ce2Sn2O7. Their findings could inspire the technology of tomorrow, such as quantum computers. The results have been published in the journal ‘Nature Physics’.

Members of COFREND (Confédération Française pour les Essais Non Destructifs) were at the ILL for a visit focused on our imaging instrument NeXT (Neutron and X-ray Tomography). This group of professionals in the field of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) had the opportunity to tour the ILL's experimental facilities and get insights into the powerful complementarity of neutron and X-ray techniques when applied to industrial research.

How neutron studies of exotic materials can pave the way towards quantum computers

The 2024 edition of the Journées de la Diffusion Neutronique (JDN2024) was held last week on the island of Porquerolles. 86 scientists attended the conference - a record number - including more than 20 scientists representing the ILL and its CRG instruments.

An international research team has used neutrons to study the nanometer-scale dynamics of water inside concrete. This is not only key to concrete strength, but also for the development of green concrete and environment-related applications.