Abstract
The most widespread use of neutron diffraction is of course the determination of magnetic structures, that is the determination of the directions in which moments point in a magnetically ordered material. To describe magnetic structures, it is intuitive and convenient to relate them to the underlying crystal structures, and therefore to use unit cells. But such a simplification misses the elegance of what magnetic structures really are and even makes their description more complex, or impossible in some cases. A more general formalism is required, the formalism of propagation vectors. This lecture is a reminder on what this formalism is, how it can describe the more general structures and how it enters fundamental equations at the basis of magnetic structure determinations by neutron diffraction.
Highlights
The power of neutron scattering relies mainly on the unique physical properties of this particle
The most widespread use of neutron diffraction is the determination of magnetic structures, that is the determination of the directions in which moments point in a magnetically ordered material
A more general formalism is required, the formalism of propagation vectors. This lecture is a reminder on what this formalism is, how it can describe the more general structures and how it enters fundamental equations at the basis of magnetic structure determinations by neutron diffraction
Summary
The power of neutron scattering relies mainly on the unique physical properties of this particle. Its mass gives to the neutron, once thermalized, a de Broglie wavelength comparable to interatomic distances in crystals (1 − 3 Å), allowing an interference effect when scattered from condensed matter systems. This interference effect is used to determine both the nuclear structures and the magnetic ones. The nuclear spin of the neutron undergoes a dipole-dipole interaction with the unpaired electrons in a magnetic material This interaction is comparable in strength to the interaction with the nuclei, so that magnetic properties can be investigated at a microscopic scale with a high precision.
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