Structure determination and phase analysis by the use of neutron diffraction

Abstract

Neutron diffraction has proven to be an indispensable and highly significant tool since its development 60 years ago. The neutron has unique properties that yield distinct information unavailable otherwise. Chief among these properties is the relative uniformity of the neutron scattering power of atoms across the periodic table, allowing the accurate structure determination of materials composed of widely differing atomic-number species. As sources get more powerful and computers get faster; the complexity of structures that can be solved ever increases such that protein structures with thousands of unique atomic positions can be determined. This paper reviews the state of the art in neutron diffraction experiments and facilities available to researchers.