Scientific Highlights

Scientists from Jülich, together with colleagues from Germany, France and China, have discovered a new property in quantum materials offering great potential for novel technical applications. It took the 17-member team a considerable amount of dedicated effort to synthesize and characterize so-called two-dimensional materials, that could one day take on a wide variety of functions in atomically thin circuits based on the future technology of magnonics.

Identifying, understanding, and predicting fundamental magnetic interactions in materials is an essential step toward their utilization in novel devices. One of these basic interactions is the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), a type of coupling between neighbouring spins that tilts them slightly when they would otherwise tend to align. Although this DMI-induced canting is usually modest, it can lead to small net magnetic moments in “weak ferromagnets” and its direction has a significant impact on spintronic applications and topological materials. In a current paper in Physical Review X, an international team of researchers led by neutron scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University present polarized neutron diffraction (PND) as an efficient technique for determining the absolute direction of the DMI in bulk materials.

ANSTO contributed to a large international collaboration on advanced sodium ion batteries led by French researchers, which provides a direction for the design of high-performing sodium ion electrodes. Advanced sodium ion batteries could be used for large scale energy storage

In the quest for advanced vehicles with higher energy efficiency and ultra-low emissions, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are accelerating a research engine that gives scientists and engineers an unprecedented view inside the atomic-level workings of combustion engines in real time.

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute and the Department of Chemistry at University of Copenhagen, have recently designed a porous polymer aiming for the capture of small molecules. Ammonia is a toxic gas widely used as a reagent in industrial processes or resulting from agricultural activities, causing irritation in the throat, eye damage and even death to humans. Being able to capture it with this new method could have huge health benefits. The result is now published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Batteries contain chemicals that store and release electrical energy at relatively slow rates compared to capacitors, which are often used in applications requiring power to be delivered rapidly.

The crystalline solid BaTiS3 (barium titanium sulfide) is terrible at conducting heat, and it turns out that a wayward titanium atom that exists in two places at the same time is to blame.

East Tennessee occupies a special place in nuclear history. In 1943, the world’s first continuously operating reactor began operating on land that would become the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Recent experiments jointly conducted at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) alongside three other laboratories around the world have revealed a surprisingly complex landscape of three different coexisting shapes in ^64^ Ni, a semi-magic nucleus thought to be purely spherical up to now.

Portuguese scientists have analyzed lichens from areas with traditional charcoal production for the first time with the help of the Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) of the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Lichens located near areas of charcoal production contained more than twice the concentration of phosphorus, which is generated during the combustion process.

They look like microscopic bottle brushes: Polymers with a spine and tufts of side arms. This molecular design gives them unusual abilities: For example, they can bind active ingredients and release them again when the temperature changes. With the help of neutrons at the MLZ, a research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now succeeded to unveil the changes in the internal structure in course of the process.

To better understand how the novel coronavirus behaves and how it can be stopped, scientists have completed a three-dimensional map that reveals the location of every atom in an enzyme molecule critical to SARS-CoV-2 reproduction.

Nine seconds. An eternity in some scientific experiments; an unimaginably small amount in the grand scheme of the universe. And just long enough to confound nuclear physicists studying the lifetime of the neutron.

Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is one of the most abundant organic compounds on Earth. Like other fossil fuels, it can be captured, stored, and used for heating buildings, powering natural gas vehicles, cooking food, and in many industrial processes.

Understanding, manipulating and exploiting the intriguing magnetic behaviour of a synthetic crystalline material called yttrium iron garnet (YIG) could open the door to the next, advanced generation of communication and information-processing devices.

The Analytical Research Infrastructures of Europe (ARIE) joins cross-border, multidisciplinary forces to offer Europe a strong and effective weapon against the current COVID-19 challenge and other potential viral and microbial threats. The MLZ is represented by Dr. Astrid Schneidewind from Forschungszentrum Jülich, who heads the working group “Adaptation to climate change, including societal transformation”.

During the second reactor cycle in 2020, the ThALES team and SCI/CS at ILL in Grenoble, France commissioned and tested a self-learning algorithm developed by the CAMERA team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). For the first time, an algorithm took control over the measurement process, without human intervention.

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), a technique that deposits highly targeted radiation into tumour cells, was first investigated as a cancer treatment back in the 1950s. But the field remains small, with only 1700 to 1800 patients treated to date worldwide. This may be about to change.

The cell membrane, the wall-like boundary between the cell interior and its outside environment, is primarily made up of two kinds of biomolecules: lipids and proteins. Different lipid species closely pack together to form a double layer, or “bilayer,” the membrane’s fundamental structure, while proteins are embedded within or attached to the bilayer.

Nanoscale vortices known as skyrmions can be created in many magnetic materials. For the first time, researchers at PSI have managed to create and identify antiferromagnetic skyrmions with a unique property: critical elements inside them are arranged in opposing directions. Scientists have succeeded in visualising this phenomenon using neutron scattering. Their discovery is a major step towards developing potential new applications, such as more efficient computers. The results of the research are published today in the journal Nature.

Materials scientists at Duke University have uncovered an atomic mechanism that makes certain thermoelectric materials incredibly efficient near high-temperature phase transitions. The information will help fill critical knowledge gaps in the computational modeling of such materials, potentially allowing researchers to discover new and better options for technologies that rely on transforming heat into electricity.

SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the disease COVID-19, is infecting the world at a rapid rate. Understanding how this infection works at the molecular level could help experts discover ways to moderate or stop the spread.

The world of physics is in uproar as a Hungarian team is said to have discovered a yet unknown particle with puzzling properties. This would not only go beyond the current understanding of physics but also bring in reach a decades-long dream in physics: An approach to dark matter.

It is very hard to take a photo of a hummingbird flapping its wings 50 times per second. The exposure time has to be much shorter than the characteristic time scale of the wing beat, otherwise you will only see a colorful blur. A similar problem is encountered in solid-state physics, where the aim is to determine the magnetic properties of a material. The magnetic moment at a certain location can change very quickly. Therefore, researchers require measuring methods that are fast enough to resolve these fluctuations.

Scientists at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) use imaging techniques with neutrons to study specially bonded steel components. With their results they can improve the welding process for oil and gas pipelines and turbines.

Supercapacitors are up-and-coming, energy storage devices, often used to store energy from renewable energy sources like wind turbines where power is intermittent. They combine the best of batteries and traditional capacitors – like batteries, they are able to store lots of energy but are faster to charge and are not made from toxic materials, and like capacitors, charge is accumulated through the adsorption and desorption of ions from an electrolyte on the surface of an electrode, which also makes it lightweight and low cost. Getting this right is important as wind farms now provide 14% of the European Union’s power!

A UCLA-led team that discovered the first intrinsic ferromagnetic topological insulator – a quantum material that could revolutionize next-generation electronics – used neutrons at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to help verify their finding.

Protein aggregation into amyloid superstructures is the molecular manifestation of a large variety of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Evidence is increasing that transient on-pathway oligomers are actually the toxic species, such that time-resolved monitoring of protein aggregation is highly desirable.

Pick your poison. It can be deadly for good reasons such as protecting crops from harmful insects or fighting parasite infection as medicine—or for evil as a weapon for bioterrorism. Or, in extremely diluted amounts, it can be used to enhance beauty.

When ultrafine magnetic particles are exposed to an external magnetic field, their magnetic core grows in a previously unexpected way. This was observed by a team of scientists from the University of Cologne (UoC), Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Institut Laue-Langevin, by employing polarized neutron scattering. The study ‘Field-Dependence of Magnetic Disorder in Nanoparticles’ has been published in the journal Physical Review X.

Aluminum blanks cannot be produced without residual stress. This means that the material warps during subsequent machining, which leads to inaccuracies. This is particularly problematic in delicate applications, such as aircraft construction. Neutron measurements at the MLZ showed that a new process is capable of reducing residual stresses almost completely.

The synthesis of stable and cost-effective new materials is paramount for the development of advanced technologies. At the same time, new and exciting insights can be made about material properties to better inform their development in the future. In a new study published in Carbon, researchers from the Institut Laue Langevin (ILL) together with colleagues from Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia, and research centres around Europe used instruments at the ILL to test a new carbon-based material, named D-96-7, and found exciting diffusion capabilities that may have applications in the world of sustainable energy provision.

Hydrogen as an energy carrier will play an important role in the energy turnaround. But to produce it from water in a CO2-neutral way by electrolysis, it needs a lot of electricity. Neutrons help to study materials that can reduce the electricity consumption in this reaction.

Spin ice is a recently discovered state of matter, made of a macroscopic landscape of degenerate magnetic configurations due to the conjunction of strong Ising moments, frustrated network connectivity and ferromagnetic interactions.

Spinels are oxides with chemical formulas of the type AB2O4, where A is a divalent metal cation (positive ion), B is a trivalent metal cation, and O is oxygen. Spinels are valued for their beauty, which derives from the molecules’ spatial configurations, but spinels in which the trivalent cation B consists of the element chrome (Cr) are interesting for a reason that has nothing to do with aesthetics: They have magnetic properties with an abundance of potential technological applications.

The magnetic transition of troilite causes instabilities in the “space metal’s” structure that transforms it from a conductor to an insulator.

Scientists seek to use quantum materials – those that have correlated order at the subatomic level – for electronic devices, quantum computers, and superconductors. Quantum materials owe many of their properties to the physics that is occurring on the smallest scales, physics that is fully quantum mechanical.

As with HIV before it, Europe’s advanced neutron sources will make an essential contribution to the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

An international research team led by scientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has recently discovered that high-entropy alloys (HEAs) exhibit exceptional mechanical properties at ultra-low temperatures due to the coexistence of multiple deformation mechanisms. Their discovery may hold the key to designing new structural materials for applications at low temperatures.

The Swiss Federal Council already elected him as PSI’s new Director last November. On 1 April, Christian Rüegg took over the helm at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI in difficult times. The coronavirus pandemic is also a challenge for large organisations and employers like PSI. However, PSI's unique research facilities also offer opportunities for researching the virus and thus finding ways to combat it. Rüegg reveals his plans for the future of the Institute here.

Artwork does not last forever. This is particularly true for paintings, which are appreciated for their visual appearance, but inevitably deteriorate through physical processes such as the deposition of air-borne dust and soot, oxidation, and attack by free radicals. As a result, after 50 to 100 years, a once-colourful painting that was exposed to city air may have become uniformly brown, or black, or white, and its protective varnish may have become opaque, cracked and irregular.

Freeze drying has provided us with tasty dried fruits in muesli, long-life yoghurt cultures and many other important products. For the first time, using neutron beams from the Heinz-Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) research neutron source, a team of scientists has now been able to show us the drying process in detail. The process engineering has thus gained a method of testing theoretical models in practice.

Artificial membranes have been used for small- and large-scale industrial processes since the middle of the twentieth century, yet their inefficiency can make some processes relatively slow and expensive. Scientists have long sought to develop synthetic membranes that could match the selectivity and high-speed transport offered by their natural counterparts.

An international team of researchers has discovered the hydrogen atoms in a metal hydride material are much more tightly spaced than had been predicted for decades—a feature that could possibly facilitate superconductivity at or near room temperature and pressure.

Drinkers will soon be cheering all the way to the bar thanks to a team of scientists who have taken a big step forward in solving the puzzle of how to make the perfect head of beer.

Lead researcher Dr Richard Campbell from The University of Manchester says his findings solve a long-standing mystery related to the lifetime of foams.

A team from the University of Manchester, ISIS and Syngenta, have been using a combination of analytical techniques in order to study the efficiency of pesticides in the development of agri-sprays, which are commonly used in the agricultural industry.

Researchers led by the University of Manchester have designed a catalyst that converts biomass into fuel sources with remarkably high efficiency and offers new possibilities for manufacturing advanced renewable materials.

An international team of scientists, led by the University of Manchester, has developed a metal-organic framework, or MOF, material that provides a selective, fully reversible and repeatable capability to capture a toxic air pollutant, nitrogen dioxide, produced by combusting diesel and other fossil fuels.

How pure do atoms vibrate in a metal? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Iron Research and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have investigated this question with the help of neutrons and theoretical calculations. Their results, which also have effects on the calculation of thermal conductivities, have now been published in the renowned journal Physical Review Letters.

A breakthrough in understanding how the quasi-particles known as magnetic monopoles behave could lead to the development of new technologies to replace electric charges.

The primary protein comprising silk is fibroin, and in the last century, it has been intensely studied for a variety of advanced applications beyond luxurious fabrics. Some of the most exciting current research is exploring the potential of this protein in a range of applications using neutrons. Research that is taking place at the Institut Laue-Langevin(ILL), the world’s flagship neutron science facility.

The accumulation of undesired biomaterials onto surfaces (‘biofouling’) is a problem in both industry and healthcare[1]. One of three main paths in marine 'anti-fouling' involves hydrophilic materials that bind water strongly (2).

One in three people cannot access clean drinking water [1]. Moringa seed extracts have been used of centuries to help purify water in regions where clean water is not available.

Researchers have used neutrons and X-rays to identify and characterise key proteins underlying the unique water purification properties of Moringa seeds. This information may allow better exploitation of this abundant resource.

From tires to clothes to shampoo, many ubiquitous products are made with polymers, large chain-like molecules made of smaller sub-units, called monomers, bonded together. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Delaware and University of Pennsylvania, with primary support from the U.S. Department of Energy Biomolecular Materials Program, has created a new fundamental unit of polymers that could usher in a new era of materials discovery.

Techniques for observing concrete as it sets could facilitate the development of new cements.

An international team led by New Zealand food scientists at the Riddet Institute has used neutron scattering techniques to characterise the structure of an oil-in-water emulsion commonly used in foods, such as milk, cream, salad dressings and sauces.

Faster image acquisition captures water exchange dynamics between roots and soil, could be useful for studying hydraulic fracturing and lithium batteries

Scientists from The University of Sheffield are studying the layered structure of highly efficient organic thin films for cheaper, more environmentally friendly, solar energy technologies.

The unique properties of neutrons have enabled the study of potential fuel cell materials to understand the transport of oxygen within them and the contribution of ionic charge carriers to the total electrical conductivity.

It was ORNL’s world-class neutron sources that drew Johs to the laboratory. He had experienced how powerful a tool neutrons could be while working on his doctorate in biophysics at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, where he studied the structure of apolipoprotein B100, a central component in low density lipoprotein, often called ‘bad cholesterol.’

By adding the new information collected via solution neutron scattering to other data from solution X-ray scattering and NMR spectroscopy, the NIST-Maryland group hopes to get a more comprehensive picture of DNA and RNA structures, as well as to expand avenues for defining molecular structures with neutron-based techniques.

Neutron experiments prove that multi-layered functional coatings can be prepared with a simple, single step procedure.

Marialucia Longo and Tobias Schrader at the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) based at FRM II in Garching, Germany have been designing and testing a crystallization chamber to grow large protein crystals.

Here, the samples are irradiated with cold neutrons. Following the neutron capture, the atomic nuclei of the chemical elements emit characteristic gamma rays.

Neutrons are good probes of materials like polymer gels, largely because of their sensitivity to hydrogen and its isotope, deuterium. Using a unique technique known as contrast matching, researchers replaced some of the hydrogen atoms in the gel with deuterium, which allowed specific structural components to be highlighted by the neutrons.

Graduate student Tong Chen spent weeks creating samples to test in neutron scattering beams. About 20 to 30 1-millimeter squares of iron selenide had to be aligned and glued in place atop each crystal of barium iron arsenide.

An ORNL-led team's observation of certain crystalline ice phases challenges accepted theories about super-cooled water and non-crystalline ice. Their findings, reported in the journal Nature, will also lead to better understanding of ice and its various phases found on other planets, moons and elsewhere in space.

American, Chinese and German scientists have found tiny distortions among the otherwise symmetrical atomic order of an iron pnictide superconductor with measurements at the triple axes spectrometer TRISP. They have thus come closer to superconductivity at higher temperatures.

American, Chinese and German scientists have found tiny distortions among the otherwise symmetrical atomic order of an iron pnictide superconductor with measurements at the triple axes spectrometer TRISP. They have thus come closer to superconductivity at higher temperatures.

Solar hydrogen can be produced from water and light in a process called photocatalytic water-splitting and could help to mitigate the impact of climate change, as no fossil fuels are used in its production. It then can be used as a renewable, environmentally friendly energy carrier, such as in hydrogen fuel cells. Nonetheless, it has proved a major scientific challenge to scale-up photocatalytic water-splitting to a stage where it could viably be used to produce hydrogen in enough quantities to revolutionise clean energy.

The team conducted quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) at ORNL and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at PNNL. Used together, QENS and NMR spectroscopy can provide alternate perspectives on the way atoms reorient and spread throughout a solution.

Neutrons are ideal for this experiment because they offer researchers an excellent view of matter at the micron scale, which is perfect for investigating chocolate’s microstructure. And, because neutrons and x-rays complement each other, neutrons are a valuable tool for verifying the results obtained via x-ray scattering at Argonne.

"Lithium has a large absorption coefficient for neutrons, which means that neutrons passing through a material are highly sensitive to its lithium concentrations," said Ziyang Nie, lead author and graduate student in Koenig's group. "We demonstrated we could use neutron radiographs to track in situ lithiation in thin and thick metal oxide cathodes inside battery cells. Because neutrons are highly penetrating, we did not have to build custom cells for the analysis and were able to track the lithium across the entire active region containing both electrodes and electrolyte."

Exactly how that process works at the microscopic level is not well understood.

Answering this question could have a big impact on both plant ecology and agriculture, which is why professors Kathryn and Jonathan Morris from Xavier University are using neutron scattering at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to observe firsthand how these info-chemicals travel along tiny, pipe-like networks called fungal hyphae. Whether the messages move passively along the outside of those fungal networks or the fungi deliberately locate and absorb info-chemicals for transportation remains unclear.

"During this process of understanding what limits proton conduction in existing materials, we hope to also discover some new physics," Ganesh said. "It's all related to underlying atomistic mechanisms."

To validate the computational results, members of the team conducted a series of complementary experiments that employed pulsed laser deposition, scanning transmission electron microscopy, time-resolved Kelvin probe force microscopy, and atom probe tomography techniques at CNMS, as well as neutron scattering at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). CNMS, SNS, and the OLCF are all DOE Office of Science User Facilities located at ORNL.

Scientists have used neutron scattering to identify the secret to a metal-organic framework's (MOF) ability to efficiently convert chemicals, through a process called catalysis, into new substances. By probing a material known as MOF-808-SO4, the team discovered molecular behavior that causes the catalyst to become less acidic, which could slow down the catalytic process vital in making products such as plastics, fragrances, cosmetics, flame retardants and solvents.

Today, in a collaboration financed by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, the ILL and the Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg have taken a major stride towards the construction of a GaAs-based backscattering spectrometer. The result is a drop in energy resolution to several tens of nano-eV, nearly an order of magnitude better than could ever be attained with silicon crystals.

A conversion that happens inside a hydrogen molecule has been studied with an unprecedented level of detail, giving an insight into how this conversion can be maximised, with implications for neutron sources, engineering and industry.

Scientists from Delft University of Technology and Unilever have designed the first shear cell that can be used for testing food samples in both neutron and X-ray scattering experiments.

Researchers investigate new interactions between gold nanoparticles and cell membranes. Gold nanoparticles have a range of biomedical applications and are an important tool for drug delivery. Factors such as temperature and membrane charge are revealed to play a key role – findings that will help scientists better predict how gold nanoparticles behave within the body.

Precise measurements at the ILL of beta asymmetry rule out neutron decay into exotic dark matter particles.

Last year, scientists became rather excited when they thought they might have found evidence for the production of dark matter particles from experiments measuring the lifetime of the neutron – one of the two constituents of the atomic nucleus (the other is the proton). The neutron is generally stable when bound in atomic nuclei, but in the free state it lasts for just under 15 minutes. Two different kinds of neutron experiments had come up with considerably different lifetimes, and researchers thought that the anomaly might be due to the decay to a dark matter particle contributing to one type of experiment but not to the other.

For the past 25 years, scientists have been developing fluorescent proteins for bioimaging. Today their diversity covers nearly the whole visible spectrum, including blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange, red, far-red and near infrared, allowing scientists to produce detailed images of various proteins’ localization within live cells using multicolour labelling.

A team of researchers at Institut Laue–Langevin (ILL) have used neutron scattering experiments to study a family of fluorescent proteins called Cyan Fluorescent Proteins (CFPs). “CFPs are very useful tools for bioimaging as they can be used to produce pictures of live cells - if the CFP is used as a fusion protein, it can reveal information about protein location, and if used as part of a biosensor, it can report on the evolution of various cell parameters (pH, calcium concentration…)” says Dr Judith Peters, scientist at ILL and professor at Université Grenoble Alpes.

In a landmark experiment at the Accelerator Laboratory of the Department of Physics (JYFL-ACCLAB) at University of Jyväskylä, a beam of the short-lived nuclide 85As was produced through nuclear fission. The research group was successful in testing the modular neutron spectrometer (MONSTER) at JYFL-ACCLAB, a new detector array built by an international collaboration with groups from CIEMAT (Spain), VECC (India), JYFL/HIP (Finland), IFIC (Spain), and UPC (Spain).

Direct observations of the structure and catalytic mechanism of a prototypical kinase enzyme—protein kinase A or PKA—will provide researchers and drug developers with significantly enhanced abilities to understand and treat fatal diseases and neurological disorders such as cancer, diabetes, and cystic fibrosis.

New clues about the molecular nature of Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that affects memory, thinking skills and other mental abilities. One of the hallmarks of the disease is the presence of amyloid plaques which accumulate between nerve cells in the brain.

Researchers have used neutron experiments to explore the toxic effect of amyloid species that arise during amyloid plaque formation. They found that these species caused increased rigidity in membrane model systems and that certain proteins can inhibit both the aggregation process and its effect on the membrane. This led to a recent publication in the Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Investigations with neutrons settle scientific dispute about the structure of fluorine.

In toothpaste, Teflon, LEDs and medications, it shows its sunny side – but elemental fluorine is extremely aggressive and highly toxic. Attempts to determine the crystal structure of solid fluorine using X-rays ended with explosions 50 years ago. A research team has now clarified the actual structure of the fluorine using neutrons from the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Research Neutron Source (FRM II).

An HZB team with neutron experiments at the BER II in Berlin and at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble has clarified what happens on the surface of the silicon anode during charging and which processes reduce the capacitance.

An international research team led by the University of Liverpool and McMaster University has made a significant breakthrough in the search for new states of matter.

In a study published in the journal Nature Physics, researchers show that the perovskite-related metal oxide, TbInO3, exhibits a quantum spin liquid state, a long-sought-after and unusual state of matter.

If you’re looking for a liquid to study with neutron scattering, lemon liqueur probably isn’t your first thought. But, for Dr. Leonardo Chiappisi, a researcher at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL, France) and the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin), it was an obvious choice. “I’m originally from Sicily,” he jokes, “and limoncello is the best thing to help liven up a dinner.”

Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich and University College London have now demonstrated for the first time that despite high concentration levels, proteins do not clump together in nanocavities of porous silicon dioxide, but instead behave like a fluid.

Searching for solutions to supersonic fluid flow behavior, researchers from the University of Tennessee–Knoxville, and the US Air Force are using neutron radiography at the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The team says a better understanding of spray dynamics will lead to improved fuel injector designs for the aeronautic and automotive industries as well as other spray-related applications used in agriculture, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

Engineers from Duke University are using cold (lower- energy) neutron scattering techniques at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to study the vibrational motions of atoms, called “phonons,” which is how heat propagates through thermoelectric materials.

Researchers have been using neutrons to explore the complex outer surfaces of the bacterium Escherichia Coli (E.coli), and they have revealed in the process, with great precision and detail, how such bacteria interact with their surroundings.

A combination of high performance computing and neutron scattering is a powerful tool of discovery for new materials that improve our quality of life and respect the environment.

Physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have recently succeeded in observing parity violation in ytterbium atoms with different numbers of neutrons. The initial effect of the measurements is to confirm the predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics that atoms with different numbers of neutrons would demonstrate parity violation. The research was published in the Nature Physics journal.

Neutron scattering has enabled scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich to detect the formation of droplets in supercritical carbon dioxide at high pressure.

For the first time a team of researchers have discovered with the help of neutrons at the instrument SANS-1 two different phases of magnetic skyrmions in a single material.

Jülich scientist Nikolaos Biniskos together with his colleagues in a Franco-German research team has gained new insights into the inverse magnetocaloric effect with the help of neutron scattering studies.

Smart photovoltaic windows represent a promising green technology featuring tunable transparency and electrical power generation under external stimuli to control the light transmission and manage the solar energy.

Researchers have observed the structure of a functional p7 protein within its native environment for the first time using reflected neutrons. The observed mechanisms will help future drug development.

By exploiting the properties of neutrons to probe electrons in a metal, a team of researchers has gained new insight into the behavior of correlated electron systems.

A team of researchers from the University of South Carolina is using neutrons to develop more durable and efficient materials called waste forms for safely storing hazardous substances.

researchers have discovered the atomic mechanisms that give the unusual material yttrium manganite (YMnO3) its rare electromagnetic properties.

Neutron scattering was used for studying magnetic behavior in a material called alpha-ruthenium trichloride. The results may have implications for quantum computing.

ORNL scientists used neutrons to understand how water flows through fractured rock. Their results help improve models for drilling, hydraulic fracturing and underground storage of carbon dioxide

An international team of physicists has developed a breakthrough method to calculate the exact point at which atomic nuclei become unstable.

Nicholas Leister and his supervisor Dr. Xiaosong Li examined different meteorites in their elemental composition after the samples had previously been irradiated at the FRMII.

Neutron reflectometry has been used to improve our fundamental understanding of corrosion and corrosion inhibitors.

Researchers characterize the spin couplings in the prototypical single-molecule magnet Mn[~12~] using an advanced neutron scattering technique.

Memorial University physicists are using neutron beams to shed light on the molecular behaviours that are fundamental to the inner workings of living cells.

Neutron diffraction experiments at the ILL provide deeper understanding of materials with structures comprising multiple metal elements.

Quasielastic neutron scattering experiments under a high pressure of 0.8 GPa were conducted at ILL to measure the translational diffusion of methane molecules at the interface of clathrate structures I and II.

A Neutron study conducted at ILL gives a renewed picture of the Lindemann criterion.

A research team at the HZB has precisely characterised for the first time the various types of defects in kesterite semiconductors.

Researchers from Jülich, Garching, Georgia, and France have developed a new method in neutron research with which any deformation of cell membranes can be detected better than before.

Oil and gas pipeline safety standard practices have been influenced by a team of researchers, who use neutron beams to better understand stress and corrosion in pipeline steel.

One University of Calgary geoscientist is demonstrating how to use neutron beams to determine the manner in which the pores in shale deposits store oil and gas.

An international team of reserchers is exploring one way to make tumour-destroying heat treatment more applicable to different kinds of tumours.

A new study sheds light on a unique enzyme that could provide an eco-friendly treatment for chlorite-contaminated water supplies and improve water quality worldwide.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has discovered and described the existence of a unique disordered electron spin state in a metal that may provide a unique pathway to finding and studying frustrated magnets.

A workhorse catalyst of vehicle exhaust systems—an “oxygen sponge” that can soak up oxygen from air and store it for later use in oxidation reactions—may also be a “hydrogen sponge.”

Using the MaNDi instrument, scientists at ORNL hope to better understand how bacteria containing enzymes called beta-lactamases resist the beta-lactam class of antibiotics.

Findings on Perylene structure open new routes for the design of organic electronics.

Evidence has been found that contradicts the basic theory of the exact role of zinc within boromolybdate glasses.

The structure of old fired-clay bricks has been investigated with neutrons.

The combination of several techniques helped define the raw materials and pigments used for the production and decoration of archaeological pottery fragments from the medieval ruins of the Agsu archaeological site in Azerbaijan.

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have performed neutron structural analysis of a vitamin B6-dependent protein, potentially opening avenues for new antibiotics and drugs.

Casper Rutjes and Ute Ebert trace how our understanding of thunderstorm physics has evolved in recent decades and explain how neutron measurements could produce fresh insights

The link between thunderstorm and neutron science is not an obvious one...

A Simon Fraser University chemist is making breakthroughs in understanding the materials that play a major role in the future of the Internet of Things.

Experiments performed at the Institut Laue-Langevin, using both ultracold neutrons at the instrument PF2 and neutron interferometry at S18, play a major role in testing the existence of chameleon fields.

Neutron experiments conducted by the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) and CNRS researchers lead to a novel picture of thermal conductivity in complex materials.

Using cold neutrons it is possible to examine the 3D internal structure of fossil teeth.

Mushroom pickers never reveal their places of discovery and neither for Dr. Matthias Rossbach. Instead, they have sent him the dried mushrooms they collected in Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Brandenburg, for scientific research.

Scientists are looking for an alternative superalloy as a gas turbine material. Lukas Karge studied a hot candidate for his PhD thesis with Dr. habil. Ralph Gilles at the MLZ.

Just how lupines draw water approaching their roots in soil has now for the first time been observed in three dimensions by a University of Potsdam team at the HZB-BER II neutron source in Berlin.

The correlation between spot welding and residual stress in boron steel was experimentally determined for the first time with neutron diffraction experiments conducted at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL).

Scientists from EPFL and PSI have shown experimentally, for the first time, a quantum phase transition in strontium copper borate.

Thanks to a new material developed by researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and Empa, electrolysers are likely to become cheaper and more efficient in the future.

Recently, Michael Laaß could clarify the possible function of an enigmatic impression in the braincase of the forerunners of mammals by means of neutron tomography at the instrument ANTARES of the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum.

With sponsorship from Tesla Motors, one ‘Gold medal’ Canadian scientist is using neutron beams in the quest to reduce the cost of energy storage technologies.

Neutron scattering has revealed in unprecedented detail new insights into the exotic magnetic behavior of a material that, with a fuller understanding, could pave the way for quantum calculations.

Neutron reflectivity, alongside other imaging methods, has been used to study the properties of ultrathin Pt/Co/Pt films.

Neutrons assist the exploration of a completely new set of topological insulating materials.

Neutrons where used to test the Phonon-Liquid Electron-Crystal (PLEC) approach as a step towards developing better thermoelectric materials.

The instrument BioDiff at the MLZ has located with highest accuracy hydrogen atoms of various inhibitors when binding to the enzyme trypsin.

Distortions of two valuable wooden figures from the beginning of the 18th century were examined with fast neutrons on the instrument NECTAR of the MLZ in Garching.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have developed a new chemical process that allows the efficient conversion of methane to methanol.

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering has confirmed that the strength of a type of supramolecular hydrogel can be increased by heating.

An abrupt thermal spin transition has been investigated with a specially designed optical setup for neutron scattering to address the magnetic properties of the light-induced HS stat

Cobalt Defect Clusters Embedded in Titanium Oxide Films were studied with low-angle polarized neutron scattering with specular reflected beams.

Measurements on the Pelican time-of-flight spectrometer have contributed to a better understanding of the molecular geometry and magnetic properties of a prospective material for quantum computing.

Neutron spectroscopy has enabled an international team to unravel quantum entanglement in a dimer of complex molecular qubits.

Rechargeable lithium batteries with cathodes comprising nickel, manganese, and cobalt, are viewed as the most potent today. But they, too, have a limited lifespan. Why this happens and what can be done to alleviate the ensuing gradual loss of capacity has now been investigated in detail by a team of scientists using positrons at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

Release of SpinW3, an updated computational tool for simulating spin waves.

This release contains the long awaited ability to visualise non orthogonal crystal systems correctly in the slice viewer.

A phenomenon of microphase separation, which appears as a novel fascinating confinement effect for fully miscible binary liquids.

For the first time ever, this study showed ‘quantum tunnelling’ in these systems, allowing the H atoms bound to C atoms to explore relatively long distances at temperatures as low as those in interstitial clouds.

ANSTO has collaborated on research with Macquarie University to clarify the origin of microstructures in metamorphic rock found deep in the Earth’s crust and mantle impacted by mineral-bearing fluids.

A novel approach was developed combining time-resolved small angle neutron scattering with online-fluorescence spectroscopy in order to monitor the PAN unfoldase from the deep-sea Methanocaldococcus jannaschii organism and a Green Fluorescent Protein model substrate.

Inelastic neutron scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry, infrared measurements, UV-spectroscopy and electrochemical studies were used to study the properties and quantum mechanics of HF@C60.

A letter published in Physical Review Letters, by a group of scientists of the Atominstitut - Institute of Atomic & Subatomic Physics of TU Wien (Austria), after an experiment on S18 at ILL.

Scientists are using neutrons to study the fundamental role carbon dioxide plays in Earth’s carbon cycle, especially in the composition of carbon reservoirs in the deep earth and the evolution of the carbon cycle over time.

Scientific discovery can come from anywhere, but few researchers can say the answers to their questions would come from the pea-sized bones in the head of a six-foot-long, 200-pound prehistoric freshwater fish.

There is a strong suspicion that Helicobacter pylori is linked to the development of stomach cancer. Now an international team of researchers led by Prof. Donald R. Ronning (University of Toledo, USA) used neutrons to unlock the secret to the functionality of an important enzyme in the bacterium's metabolism. This could be used as a point of attack for new medications. Measurements made at Oak Ridge and FRM II.

The influence of interactions in high protein concentrations is extremely difficult to quantify experimentally. Neutron scattering experiments performed among other places at the J-NSE instrument at MLZ, and computer simulations carried out in Jülich have now made studies possible in physiological concentrations.

Water, a simple molecule but a complex behaviour. Neutron scattering demonstrate that there are two dynamic processes with quite different temperature dependences. A possible clue to answer open questions about low temperature liquid water.

A new material retains its special magnetic properties even at room temperature.

Anyone who has ever looked out of the window during an intercontinental flight has probably already seen it: cirri, the ice clouds in the upper troposphere (8-12 km high) look like rattled cotton. But also in the lower stratosphere (15-20 km altitude) there are ice clouds, so-called polar stratospheric clouds (abbr. PSCs).

An important increase of microhardness value for (Pb,Cd)Te was directly confirmed by results of nanoindentation measurements performed for a few samples with various chemical composition.

A team launched the first version of Monte Carlo Particle Lists. This new, open source format makes it simpler to interchange particle-state information data between popular Monte Carlo simulation packages, making the work of developers more efficient.

In partnership with GKN Powder Metallurgy, Dalhousie University researchers are using neutron beams in studies aimed at opening up the automotive market to more products made from aluminum powders—a promising alternative to the heavier steel components used in the industry today.

British scientists have elucidated the structure of a vital enzyme with the help of neutrons. This involved the presence of a hydrogen atom. Their results are now published in Nature Communications.

Scientists make a surprising discovery. The steepness of the temperature dependence (fragility) of the viscosity that is determined by chain relaxation follows the correlations at all molecular weights.

One week of beam time at the PUMA instrument have been enough for international research teams from Beijing and the USA to prove theoretical calculations experimentally. The results bring the global community of superconductors a good deal, because this small, but very important puzzle part has confirmed a theory.

A SINE2020 team is working on developing Resistive Plate Chambers for neutron detectors.

Alexandros Koutsioumpas from Forschungszentrum Jülich has studied the structure of complex lipid membranes at the neutron reflectometer MARIA.

This article showcases work conducted at neutron sources around the globe that confirmed the predictions of the winners of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics or that builds upon their theories.

Neutron beams reveal the molecular mechanisms behind a new technology that could reduce the risk of complications and death from heart bypass surgery and dialysis. The same technology might soon help more women survive ovarian cancer.

Jülich, 26 October 2016 - An international research team has proved the existence of spin-spirals in a quantum liquid. They emerge at low temperatures from the magnetic moments ("spins") of manganese scandium thiospinel single crystals (MnSc2S4). Neighbouring spins fluctuate here collectively as spirals, but when spatial distances are involved, they do not take on any particular order, just as water molecules will only form structures with neighbouring water molecules. Proof of this so-called "spiral spin-liquid" was achieved with the help of polarized diffuse neutron scattering on an instrument of the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at its outstation at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum.

For the first time, a team including scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have used neutron beams to create holograms of large solid objects, revealing details about their interiors in ways that ordinary laser light-based visual holograms cannot.

Mechanical engineers of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have observed battery cells during their filling with the help of neutron radiography - and have learned important lessons for the production process.

An international team of scientists has examined high-temperature superconductors at the instrument PANDA. Their resulsts have been published in Nature Communications.

Neutron-scattering experiments explore origins of high-temp superconductivity. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications.

EPFL scientists discovered a material that can produce stable skyrmions in a wide range of temperatures, making it ideal for building devices.

Dr Alison Edwards has contributed to the characterisation of two large, complex silver nanoclusters of 136 and 374 atoms as part of an international collaboration led by researchers from Xiamen University in China.

Using neutron beams at the CNBC, scientists gather direct molecular-level evidence for the role that Vitamin E plays in the human body—a feat that has been unattainable using other experimental techniques.

Engineers from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, used neutrons recently to help understand the potential benefit of additive manufactured rocket engine components.

Thanks to an ultramodern research method, scientists have successfully looked inside transformers and observed the magnetic domains at work in the interior of a transformer's iron core. Transformers are indispensable in regulating electricity both in industry and in domestic households.

Conclusive evidence of order by disorder is scarce in real materials.

Experiments with neutrons reveal minimal corrosion of the top layer of a naturally occurring CO[~2~] reservoir.

Nuclear techniques have allowed archaeologists to see into an embedded section of an ancient Australian Indigenous stone artefact non-invasively—suggesting important information about its origin and use.

The deuteron - just like the proton - is smaller than previously thought.

According to Wikipedia, a TAKIN is a goat-like mammal in Asia. Quite different at FRM II: here it is a new and extremely useful software that Tobias Weber, Robert Georgii and Prof. Peter Böni of the MIRA group developed specifically for working with three-axis spectrometers.

Using neutrons, scientists have revealed a possible cause of Alzheimer's disease.

Results show that reducing the inter-nanoparticles attractions gives rise to a much richer ensemble of nanoparticles self-assemblies, apparently with a smaller influence from kinetic traps (or barriers).

Inelastic neutron scattering experiments at ANSTO found a possible new quantum spin state in a novel antiferromagnetic material barium ytterbium zinc oxide which provides both a challenge and validation of the third law of thermodynamics.

A novel and rare state of matter known as a quantum spin liquid has been empirically demonstrated in a monocrystal of the compound calcium-chromium oxide by team at HZB, which was previously thought impossible.

Researchers use diffraction data from pulsed high-intensity neutrons to understand the reactions that deteriorate lithium batteries during operation.

Aircraft manufacturers sponsor researchers who are using stress data from the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre to evaluate methods of preventing distortion in thin aluminum parts.

Scientists experimentally realized two-dimensional water by crafting the water molecules onto a hydrophilic surface with distances between the water molecules compatible with hydrogen bond formation.

The combination of the neutron diffraction techniques and the software program "Umweg" at MLZ is a big step forward to improve neutron studies on many highlighting materials, in order to answer the often difficult question of their real symmetry.

Neutron reflectometry experiments revealed the existence and extent of the interaction between A? peptides and a lone customised biomimetic membrane, and their dependence on the aggregation state of the peptide.

Research published in Nature combining neutron scattering with other techniques strengthens understanding of the delivery of cancer drugs.

Two research teams have studied the new class of iron-based superconductors at the MLZ and independently came to the same surprising result: the superconducting Cooper pairs change their symmetry.

Neutron computer tomography on the Dingo instrument has produced three dimensional video of ron meteorites.

Following research at CNBC, Nor-Mar Industries has received approval for, and successfully implemented changes to, welding protocols to deliver premium-quality products.

The magnetic properties of thin film systems with superconducting and ferromagnetic states and an isolating layer in between were never studied before.

An international research team has discovered the mechanism by which a pharmaceutical excipient from the class of block copolymers improves the solubility of large quantities of a poorly water-soluble active substance. The results form the basis for the development of a drug delivery system better tolerated by the human body.

Scientists have used neutron crystallography to determine the structures of HIV-1 protease/drug complexes, providing key details of hydrogen-bonding interactions in the active-site and revealing a pH-induced proton ‘hopping’ mechanism that guides HIV-1 protease activity.

Hydro-Québec is using stress data from the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre (CNBC) to improve electricity generation from hydroelectric dams.

Chain behavior has been determined in polymer nanocomposites comprised of well-dispersed 12nm diameter silica nanoparticles in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrices by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering measurements under the Zero Average Contrast condition.

Scientists have designed a novel catalyst that overcomes the challenge of breaking down complex plant components to produce some of the highest yields of biofuel. The results bring us one step closer to lessening our dependence on fossil fuels, and are an important development in our shift towards renewable energy.

Scientists have examined a method to preserve artifacts more closely by Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis to find the optimal conditions for preservation.

Results show that one can examine details of the operation of fuel cells with neutron scattering and thus promote the optimisation of the individual components of the fuel cell for a longer life and better efficiency.

A publication in the journal Johnson Matthey Technology Review explains how and why neutron scattering may be a useful technique to investigate catalysis.

Neutron scattering at ANSTO has contributed to building evidence for the existence of a highly exotic and elusive state of matter, known as a magnetic ‘spin nematic’ phase in a natural mineral called linarite.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutrons to uncover novel behavior in materials that holds promise for quantum computing.

Spin ice is an unusual magnetic material in which the combination of strong local Ising anisotropy and ferromagnetic interactions imposes a local constraint to the magnetic moments, the "ice-rule". We have observed magnetic fragmentation in a recently discovered material, the spin ice candidate Nd2Zr2O7, by means of neutron scattering measurements.

The internal movements of proteins can be important for their functionality. With the aid of neutron spectroscopy, scientists detected dynamic processes in so-called LOV photoreceptors. The results highlight the immense potential of neutron scattering experiments for the analysis of cellular processes.

A team of scientists and technicians designed a more efficient stopped-flow observation head that can make SANS experiments easier and more efficient to conduct. Watch our new video to know all about it!

The combination of different neutron methods allowed measuring the complete spectrum of magnetic excitations.

The CNBC is enhancing its neutron imaging capabilities to see inside concealed objects. Identifying unknown radioactive material reduced the cost of a long-term waste management liability for the Government of Canada and demonstrated new capabilities.

In the final and major stages of acceleration before contact with the Target, the proton beam energy of the ESS Accelerator will reach 2.0 GeV, making it the most powerful linear proton accelerator ever built. France’s national Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission, CEA, is guiding the design, production and testing of the superconducting radio-frequency elliptical cryomodules that make this possible.

This release contains the long awaited support to handle the differing Crystallography convention (kf-ki) and inelastic convention (ki-kf) for representing HKL and Q space data.

In a new video you can learn of a new pressure cell that makes it easier to conduct SANS experiments at 500 MPa.

The first attempts to use boron-10 for neutron detection were made in the 1970s. Due to the high neutron flux expected at ESS and the economics of the helium-3 crisis, boron is experiencing a comeback. EU support through the BrightnESS project is delivering critical results for the development of such detectors at the European Spallation Source.

Watch this new video where scientists explain us the steps taken before conducting a neutron experiment on biological samples.

An NMI3 JRA has made significant progress in the production of biological membranes that can be used for structural and dynamic characterisations.

When a gas explosion occurs in a home, analyzing evidence and determining the chain of events leading up to the explosion can be critical to resolving a lawsuit. If the provider is found to be at fault, injured parties can be awarded hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Researchers from the European Spallation Source and Denmark refine reflectometry concepts for fast kinetic studies of thin films and other advanced materials.

In type II superconductors thin channels, flux tubes, are formed. The magnetic field is guided through these tubes while the rest of the material remains field-free and superconducting. In the metal niobium, the flux tubes bunch together into small islands that create complex patterns. Researchers were the first to conduct neutron experiments to study these structures in niobium and determine the distribution of the islands in detail.

Researchers investigated how cholesterol levels influence drug delivery. The results vary depending on the type of drug tested.

Although they don’t currently have as much conductivity, solid-state electrolytes designed for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are emerging as a safer alternative to their more prevalent—sometimes flammable—liquid-electrolyte counterparts.

A new update of SasView, version 3.1.2, has just been released. It is recommended that all users of SasView upgrade.

Hidden ‘Damascus’ patterns in the steel used to make ancient Indo-Persian swords and daggers are being uncovered by collaborators from London’s Wallace Collection and CNR, Italy, during neutron diffraction experiments at ISIS. This work gives insight into the quality of the blades as well as helping curators identify ‘Damascus steel’.

A key issue with lithium ion batteries is aging. It significantly reduces their potential storage capacity. To date, very little is known about the causes of the aging effects. Scientists now came a step closer to identifying the causes in their latest experiments.

New forensic techniques to help with the positive identification of unknown victims based on their burned skeletal remains are being developed by bone experts working beside neutron scientists.

The new detection system is characterized by a dead-time constant of 25ns and a count rate as high as 5MHz at 10% dead-time. Compared to the old detector, this means an improvement of factor 25.

Magnetism. Over the last 60 years neutron scattering has provided the breakthroughs necessary to understand the atomic-level ordering of magnetic materials. The latest discovery of these ‘hidden orders’ has recently been published in the journal Science and suggests the potential for neutron scattering to reveal much more.

Researchers have found a much easier and more accurate way of investigating the often decisive lateral deflection of molecules.

Spoke Cavity Prototypes Exceed Expectations. An important test result was achieved this summer at the accelerator lab of the French Institute of Nuclear Physics, IPN-Orsay. The finding is important to linac development worldwide, but of particular importance to the ESS Accelerator currently under civil construction in Sweden and in technical development across Europe.

Our universe consists of significantly more matter than existing theories are able to explain. One way to clarify this discrepancy is via the neutron’s so-called electric dipole moment. In an international collaboration, researchers at PSI have now devised a new method which will help determine this dipole moment more accurately than ever before.

Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have developed a coating technique in the laboratory conditions that could raise the efficiency of fuel cells. The PSI scientists have already applied to patent the technique, which is suitable for mass production.

Scientists have discovered skyrmions in the very material class they were originally predicted. These strange quasiparticles can be controlled with electrical fields, which can be used in futuristic memory storage.

The first successful user experiment at ESS demonstrates the importance of neutrons to the life sciences, and shows the way forward for ESS as a user facility.

Seen from outside Manganese silicon shows no magnetism, inside it looks different. By neutron scattering TU scientists have now proven the excitations of its magnetic helix.

Application of neutron beams for automative applications at the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre.

New Study shows Correlation between Microscopic Structures and Macroscopic Properties.

In combination with other methods of investigation, scientists have recently achieved amazing results with the instrument BIODIFF at MLZ.

Swiss-Danish team to build a pioneering crystal analyser spectrometer optimised to study dynamics in quantum materials and matter under extreme conditions.

Neutron scattering provides insight into the structure of magnetic nanoparticles and dynamic behaviour of encapsulated cancer drugs.

The version 3.3 of the simulation package VITESS has been released.

The ILL has just published a brochure on how experiments with neutrons are enabling responsible and sustainable power generation, storage and use.

The Advanced Methods and Techniques JRA has developed a new type of RFSF to enhance NRSE spectrometers.

The NMI3 Imaging JRA discusses how to produce smaller beams. They conclude that reflective optics offers the most versatile way to produce them.

HZB team decodes relationship between magnetic interactions and the distortions in crystal structure within a geometrically “frustrated” spinel system

The ageing of the foams could be stopped to make them stable indefinitely, or until they were heated above the melting temperature of the crystals.

Groundbreaking work at two Department of Energy national laboratories has confirmed plutonium's magnetism, which scientists have long theorized but have never been able to experimentally observe.

Great progress made in the commissioning of the new Bilby time-of-flight small-angle scattering instrument in ANSTO.

Neutron measurements reveal key dynamic properties of magnetic structure in unique experimental study.

ANSTO research may help preserve some of the world’s most important historic artefacts and buildings.

From pipes to power station turbines and railway lines, ensuring that engineering components perform under pressure can save lives.

Scientists find that Hfq forms a nucleoprotein complex, changes the mechanical properties of the double helix and compacts DNA into a condensed form.

NMI3 collaboration works on simulations to find the best possible guide for experiments at low temperatures and high magnetic fields.

Thanks to NMI3 support, for the first time researchers create artificial methane hydrates in just a few minutes.

Scientists conducted an experiment with the instrument SPODI at MLZ to determine the structure of shape memory alloys of nickel-manganese-indium.

We describe a new regime in dense polymer solutions, typically above ~1mol/L, where q* is proportional to the concentration c of the solution.

Researchers used additive manufacturing and neutron imaging to examine microchannel heat exchangers, which hold refrigerants used to move thermal energy and provide cooling or heating in many applications.

Researchers are working on an interdisciplinary collaboration between physicists and dentists to develop a material comprised of glass ionomer cement.

Small-angle neutron scattering enabled researchers to look inside intact leaves to learn how their structure and functions change when submitted to environmental changes.

Researchers successfully shown that boron-coated vitreous carbon foam can be used in the detection of neutrons emitted by radioactive materials — of critical importance to homeland security.

A novel non-destructive method using short-wavelength characteristic X-ray diffraction meter with the X-ray tube of tungsten anode target to determine the RS within the materials is developed in China.

A new study carried out at the Institut Laue-Langevin in collaboration with researchers at the Lyons-University based Hospices Civils de Lyon has determined the most accurate microstructure ever obtained of human enamel.

The scientists were able to detect structural changes using a model system of phospholipids from soy plants with the help of neutron scattering techniques at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum in Garching near Munich.

New concept to achieve ultimate transparency reaches 90% transmittance. This innovative method should drive the development of new highly transparent materials with technologically relevant applications.

At MLZ several groups work on battery research to gain a better understanding of how batteries work by various neutron methods. Two new papers were published recently.

Hsin-Yin Chiang of MLZ has explored the development of a new fuel with lower enrichment. Uranium-molybdenum (UMo) embedded in an aluminum matrix is a promising candidate.

A group of scientists from Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom applied an innovative approach to study Egyptian copper alloy figurines.

For the first time in hybrid vesicles, scientists obtained evidence for phase separation at the nanoscale, leading to the formation of stable nanodomains enriched either in lipid or polymer.

Scientists combine three different methods to better understand and predict the behaviour of materials in rails.

Scientists suggest a new method to transform power plant ash into materials that could be used for nuclear waste treatment or soil remediation.

Researchers have used the new IMAGINE instrument at HFIR to map an enzyme that could play an important role in anti-cancer drug development.

Dr. Matthias Rossbach and his team designed and constructed a new instrument for prompt and delayed fission neutron induced reaction Gamma spectrometry.

Measurements at the three axes spectrometer PUMA at MLZ have now been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications.

Measurements using positrons could help to develop better coatings for drugs.

Neutron radiography of corks

NMI3 collaboration has taken a significant step in the production of biological membranes.

Let’s travel back in time and imagine how life on earth was before the biggest mass extinction. Thanks to NMI3 a scientist used neutrons to investigate the mechanisms through which the K. fossilis could hear.

What is the detailed atomic interaction of water with the lipid membrane and what affect do different types of lipids have on that interaction?

Neutron scattering experiments at the ILL have revealed the existence of quantum selection rules in molecules, the first experimental confirmation of its kind.

Research paper shows a good example of where experiments both at PANDA and PUMA at the FRM II equally contribute to a common research.

NMI3 supports a European collaboration to develop an atmospheric plasma deposition system to produce Boron-10 layers. You can watch the video!

Lithium-ion batteries are seen as a solution for energy storage of the future. Their key advantage is that they can store large amounts of energy but are light and compact.

A paper reveals the RS distribution in a 20 mm thick plate of 7075 Al alloy.

Thanks to neutrons, scientists could investigate the interaction between

antibody and antigens and the importance of a blocking protein, present

in home pregnancy tests.

Results demonstrate the potential of such self-assembled materials for the design of bulk proton conductors.

Neutron scattering experiment at PUMA resolves a contentious superconducting issue.

Researchers developed a novel method, based on energy-selective neutron imaging for visualization of crystalline phase distributions within the bulk of metallic samples.

Right on time for the International Year of Crystallography, Nature Milestones special issue on crystallography is now out.

A new humidity chamber will be used for neutron scattering experiments to reproduce the human body conditions in order to shed light on biological processes such as the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

The beta test period for version 3.2 has now closed and the software has been release on the 11th of July.

Neutrons shed light on vital enzymes’ mechanism of action.

A team of researchers have solved a long-standing mystery in biology by identifying the structure of a vital enzyme intermediate. The debate boils down to something as simple as a hydrogen atom: is it there, or not?

Scientists develop a new analytical model to suppress undesirable surface effect.

Results show that the synthetic poly(allylamine) hydrochloride (PAH) conformation is a determining factor not only for film growth but also for structural properties.

Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have succeeded in imaging the distribution of frozen and liquid water in a hydrogen fuel cell directly for the first time.

v3.0.0 of the popular SasView model-fitting software has just been released for Windows (32 bit), Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64 bit) and Mac OSX.

Applied Scintillation Technologies Ltd (Appscintech) is pleased to announce it has been granted European and American trademarks for its 6Li doped cerium aluminosilicate thermal neutron glass: GS20®.

The generalization of this method to other materials opens new perspectives toward many applications.

New findings challenge widely accepted views of how algae respond to light where the light harvesting proteins were thought to move around the membranes.

Conflicting results in measurements of how long neutrons live has physicists rethinking their experiments, because solving the riddle may point the way to exotic new physics

Findings of Jülich researchers reveal the power play in myelin basic protein and revolutionize prevailing assumptions about the biomolecular functioning of this key element of the central nervous.

Imagine is the new cold neutron imaging station at the LLB. One on the first experiments done on this station investigated the Quality grading of cork stoppers: amount of defects inside the material.

The team of Prof. D. Schlüter (ETHZ) pushes for a mild and facile and rational approach to the synthesis of new 2-D materials using specially-designed monomers to control internal pattern.

An experiment demonstrates the ability to conduct, for the first time, simultaneous SANS and DSC measurements.

In the future, antineutrino detectors may provide an additional option for monitoring. Physicists at Technische Universitaet Muenchen have now found interesting results using fast neutrons from MLZ.

The vibrational dynamics of a new class of cross-linked polymers made up of cyclodextrins was investigated in the microscopic range by the joint use of light and inelastic neutron scattering experiments.

First results from a low energy, table top alternative takes validity of Newtonian gravity down by five orders of magnitude and narrows the potential properties of the forces and particles that may exist beyond it by more than one hundred thousand times.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may get the lion’s share of attention in climate change discussions, but the biggest repository of carbon is actually underfoot.

Nikolay Kardjilov from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin tells about the aims of the groups involved in the NMI3 Imaging Joint Research Activity.

By performing neutron-scattering measurements, scientists could observe what happens during a quantum phase transition, and compare the "quantum melting" of the magnetic structure with the "thermal melting" phase transition.

The application of a neutron microbeam to the investigation of an internal magnetic microstructure has been demonstrated experimentally.

In an experiment the sample might degrade and produce questionable results. In a video, researchers explain their work on a set up to control the sample quality along time.

The first public release of our DiffPy Complex Modeling Initiative (DiffPy-CMI) project has just been announced.

Henrich Frielinghaus and Marie-Sousai Appavou from the JCNS-MLZ are developing a new pressure cell. This work, which is funded by NMI3, will broaden the research possibilities in several scientific fields.

The VITESS team is happy to announce that there is a new version of the neutron simulation software VITESS available for download.

A team of scientists achieved a five-fold reduction in the dominant uncertainty in an experiment that measured the mean lifetime of the free neutron, resulting in a substantial improvement of previous results.

A design optimization study by a team of the European Spallation Source.

A team of researchers reveal the similarities and differences in the local structure of the Fe–Nb–B glasses and their crystalline counterparts.

Researchers believe they've learned why one of the main classes of these materials, known as relaxors, behaves in distinctly different ways from the rest and exhibit the largest piezoelectric effect.

A team in CEA Saclay is working on a new detector that uses boron-10 instead of helium-3.

Annie Brûlet, the coordinator of this Joint Research Activity, told us about this collaboration’s main goals and achievements.

Physicists at the Paul Scherrer Institute have now demonstrated that a novel superconducting state is only created in the material CeCoIn[~5~] when there are strong external magnetic fields.

Scientists report the first example of spontaneous self-assembly of ionic octahedral Ir(III) complexes containing carboxylates counterions into luminescent ordered aqueous gel phases.

For the first time Prof. Dr. Tobias Unruh and his team have demonstrated with neutrons how long-chain molecules in their liquid melt move.

Researchers have obtained new insights into the bonding of water by using neutrons on the instrument TOFTOF of the MLZ.

Scientists have used neutron reflectometry to look at lubricant additives and their interactions with iron, a common engineering material, to discover how these molecules function.

The analysis of cholesterol and lipids transfer shows the advantages of combining the methods of RSE and vesicle fusion to prepare tBLMs solid-supported membrane models.

Have you ever eaten lupins? They are a common snack in Mediterranean countries. Learn where and how the roots of these plants take water from the soil.

Researchers studying more effective ways to convert woody plant matter into biofuels at ORNL have identified fundamental forces that change plant structures during pretreatment processes used in the production of bioenergy.

Particle and Particle Systems Characterization: Small-Angle Scattering Applications

Using high resolution neutron scattering at the instrument TRISP of the Max-Planck Society at MLZ, the lifetime of magnetic spin waves was measured and for the first time a correct theory was developed.

Polymer vesicles, also named polymersomes, are valuable candidates for drug delivery and micro- or nanoreactor applications.

Studies at ISIS have shown that adding ash generated as waste from sugar production could make cement stronger, able to withstand higher pressure, and less likely to crumble.

Device could open up new areas of research on materials and biological samples at tiny scales.

As part of the NMI3-II Detectors JRA, scientists at the BNC explore alternatives to Helium-3 so that neutron detectors can become more efficient and provide better data.

Experiments at the Technical University of Munich show that the antidepressant lithium accumulates more strongly in white matter of the brain than in grey matter.

For the first time, scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have determined the paths along which sodium ions move in a prospective battery material.

Very promising results were obtained considering the PEMFC applications.

MLZ contributes with a range of methods and components to the NMI3's joint research activities.

The Data Analysis WP and the Computing for Science group at the ILL provide a ready to run LiveDVD that includes a set of neutron scattering software.

We have now a new section with Educational Material!

Experiments conducted at the PSI have made it possible to determine how a unique Bronze Age axe was made.

Scientists from Forschungszentrum Jülich have developed an innovative paint brush cleaner, which works without solvents.

More and more bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics thus making these drugs useless. The understanding of this mechanism could help develop new antibiotics.

Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have made thin, crystalline layers of the material LuMnO3 that are both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic.

For the economic efficiency of electric vehicles a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of lithium intercalation into the electrode materials during charge and discharge will be advantageous.

Neutron scattering at ILL and ISIS delves inside new crime scene forensics technique developed by the University of Leicester. Research to address the fact that only 10% of fingerprints taken from crime scenes yield identifications that are usable in court.

ILL Scientists have for the very first time given a complete description of a one-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet.

The Joint Research Activities (JRAs) supported by NMI3-I have brought experts together from facilities across Europe to develop new techniques and instrumentation for neutron and muon research.

The existence of the protonated hexatitanate H2Ti6O13 was only very recently demonstrated, even though only a partial characterisation has been accomplished. Our analysis of data from synchrotron and neutron powder diffraction, combined with IR spectroscopy data, provided us with a precise determination of the crystal structure, thus shedding light on the electrochemical properties of the material and the charge and discharge processes. H2Ti6O13 finally revealed itself to be an interesting material for rechargeable lithium batteries.

Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient for human health, protecting, for example, against cardiovascular disease, male sterility and certain forms of cancer. Even though it is a common nutrient e.g. in cereals, it is lacking in the diet of at least 1 billion people around the globe. The few available data indicate that Portugal is one of the countries concerned. A research project taking place in Portugal aims to assess the levels of Se in the country’s cereals and soils.

Scientists working at the Institut Laue-Langevin have shown that the charge of gold nanoparticles, identified by major pharmaceutical companies as a drug delivery agent of the future for the treatment of cancer, affects how they interact with our cell’s protective outer wall. These crucial insights, published in Langmuir, provide a first step in the effective design of safe nanoparticles for biomedical applications and the practices and procedures for their secure handling in a variety of other consumer products.

Researchers used neutrons to investigate how ozone causes severe respiratory problems and thousands of cases of premature death each year by attacking the fatty lining of our lungs.

In industrial settings, employees may be exposed to high concentrations of metals while working indoors. Neutrons give insights into the air quality in the workplace.

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) has potential as a non-invasive analytical tool in archaeometry, also in conjunction with other, more usual, methodologies.

Since the period that followed World War II, gas turbines have developed to become more efficient, which led to increased gas temperatures inside the turbines. It is estimated that future gas turbines will function at temperatures about 200°C higher than today. The materials currently used cannot withstand such high temperatures. For this reason it is necessary to investigate new materials.

Liquid water, the most familiar liquid, is still not completely understood, even less so all the processes in which it participates. We describe the present situation of research concerning the so-called anomalies of liquid water at low temperature.

Discoveries about the Mary Rose ship vessel made from experiments performed at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI, Switzerland) will change our understanding of history.

In order to observe how oil is distributed inside a clutch, developmental engineers from the Schaeffler-Brand LuK (D) together with scientists from PSI are working together, illuminating metals with neutrons.

Scientists at FRM II in collaboration with the Institute of Applied Materials - Energy Storage Systems (IAM-ESS) and the Materials Science Department used neutron diffraction to observe an important process that contributes to fatigue in current Li-ion batteries.

About the British physicist Peter Higgs has been much talk recently. Researchers at the European Nuclear Research Center CERN in Geneva were more likely to prove what he predicted in the 1960s as a Higgs boson. His proposed Higgs mechanism explains how elementary particles get their mass - and also plays a role beyond elementary particle physics. By using neutron scattering experiments, an international research team found the first indication that this mechanism can explain a phase transition of exotic magnetic states in a Yb2Ti2O7 crystal near absolute zero. During the cooling of a so called "quantum spin ice" state, they observed for the first time evidence of a spontaneous exchange with what Peter Higgs had predicted as a Higgs field in a magnet. The results are published in "Nature Communications".

An international team of researchers has discovered an excellent new material for studying the behaviour of spins. The spins in the colourless salt LiErF4 behave like real bar magnets. They also managed to switch on and off the magnetic properties of the material using quantum mechanics.

Nowadays all diesel motor vehicles are fitted with a particulate filter as standard. However it is not known exactly how the soot particles are deposited inside these filters. Now, by Neutron Tomography, researchers at PSI have made the soot inside filters visible, creating a foundation from which these filters can be optimised and developed further.

For a healthy human organism, the ideal body temperature is about 37 degrees Celsius, while for platypus 33'C are sufficient. A team of neutron researchers has now discovered how the haemoglobin of various species adapted to different body temperatures during the course of evolution. Thanks to its properties, haemoglobin can optimally transport oxygen from the lungs to the cells at the respective temperature.

Stress corrosion - combined action of mechanical stress and corrosion by water from the surrounding atmosphere - is often the cause of crack propagation in glasses. A study by neutron reflectivity at the Laboratoire Léon Brillouin (IRAMIS / LLB) of samples of silica glass fractured under an atmosphere of heavy water (D2O) shows a high penetration of water into the glass.

Scientists working at the Institut Laue-Langevin have carried out the first investigation of two-dimensional fermion liquids using neutron scattering, and discovered a new type of very short wave-length density wave. The team believe their discovery, published today in Nature, will interest researchers looking at electronic systems, since high-temperature superconductivity could result from this type of density fluctuation.