Neutron Sources, Imaging, and Scattering Instrumentation
This community develops the infrastructure and techniques for using neutrons to probe matter, focusing on the creation of neutron beams and the instruments that use them for imaging and scattering experiments.
The work centers on the design and operation of neutron sources, including research reactors and spallation facilities. Recurring methods include neutron imaging, radiography, and tomography for non-destructive testing and material analysis. The community also develops scattering techniques, such as small-angle neutron scattering and spin echo, to study material dynamics. Specific applications include visualizing microstructural changes in foods, testing additive-manufactured steel, and analyzing polymer dynamics. The research also covers fundamental physics measurements, such as the neutron lifetime and electric dipole moment, using ultracold neutron beams.
The community’s output is distributed across elements relevant to neutron interactions and detection. It represents 0.3% of all beryllium research, 0.2% of helium research, and 0.1% of gadolinium research.
There are 5,069 papers in this community, with the highest publication counts in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, Physica B: Condensed Matter, and Review of Scientific Instruments.
Recent work includes neutron dark-field tomography of nanostructural orientation in cellulose foams, neutron scattering studies of bottlebrush polymer backbone dynamics, and gamma- and neutron-based radiography for non-destructive testing of additive-manufactured steel samples.