Spectroscopy

Investigating the movements of atoms on a time scale from pico to micro-seconds 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 through to the measuring of slow, sometimes diffusive motion using high resolution methods such as back-scattering 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. Although still in the development stage, a dedicated instrument such as KOMPASS aims to make the time-consuming and technically challenging experiments of today a mere matter of routine in the near future.