Spectroscopy

Investigating the movements of atoms on a time scale from pico to microseconds is the domain of neutron spectroscopy. The bandwidth is wide enough to cover the measurement of excitation energies on three axes instruments and time-of-flight spectrometers up to measuring slow, sometimes diffusive motion using high-resolution methods such as backscattering or spin-echo.

Combining these methods reveals unprecedented insights into the dynamics of condensed matter, made possible, for example, by the TRISP instrument. Using polarised neutrons, a detailed investigation of magnetic excitations becomes feasible.

Dedicated instruments such as KOMPASS and LaDIFF (under construction) aim to make the time-consuming and technically challenging experiments of today a mere matter of routine soon.