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Neutron diffraction

Neutron diffraction is the application of neutron scattering to the determine the local and long-range atomic and/or magnetic structure across a wide range of science areas. It is used to study a large variety of fundamental and applied materials/systems including determination of the local structure of glass materials and liquids, understanding planetary ices, discovering new materials for energy storage, measuring residual stresses in engineering components and understanding the electronic properties of novel spintronic materials.

The neutron diffraction technique is used by three groups at ISIS:

Crystallography

Crystallography
Engineering diffraction

Engineering diffraction
Disordered materials

Disordered materials

Diffraction group leaders

Craig Bull

Craig Bull

Group leader
A man with glasses

Daniel Bowron

Group leader
A white man with a moustache and beard

Manuel Morgano

Group leader

Neutron diffraction science highlights

A woman speaking at a lecturn
Neutrons provide a unique view of the synthesis of a potential hydrogen storage material
Two men stood in front of a beam on sign
Neutrons prove critical for cocrystal characterisation
A graphic showing the crystal structure of the material at x=0 and x=1, and the pair distribution functions at different x values.
Localised areas with different compositions could lead to better performance of thermoelectric materials
A group of people stood in front of ISIS TS1
Teamwork enables the study of the toxic gas, phosgene
A man leaning over, with purple gloves on, holding some equipment near the floor.
Neutrons show how the lifetime of steel components could be extended using novel heat treatments
Alexandre Henriques and Matthias Gutmann working on the SXD instrument at ISIS
Barium bismuth surprises scientists with anomalous thermal conductivity characteristics
A man looking at a suspended metal cylinder
Neutron scattering reveals the unexpected structure of space ice
Professor Mustafa and the research team
Testing a geopolymer coating material on Engin-X: a new milestone in engineering research
Camilla Di Mino and Tom Headen on the NIMROD beamline at ISIS.
Using neutrons and nanotubes to challenge assumptions about solvent behaviour
Muhammad Naeem, team leader and corresponding author, at the Engin-X beamline where cryogenic in-situ neutron diffraction experiments were carried out.
Strength vs flexibility – this steel has it all, even at low temperatures
© Rolls-Royce plc 2025 • All rights reserved
Understanding stress to enable jet engines to fly for longer
Lead author Dr Rachael Hamp preparing to load a sample on NIMROD, where the discovery was initially made. Credit: Mark Fox-Powell.
Researchers use ISIS to discover new type of salt that could exist on icy moons
A figure showing the crystal structure with and without LLDs.
Total scattering proves to be a powerful tool for studying high entropy alloys
Unconventional magnetic order and dynamics in hyperhoneycomb Na2PrO3, compared to a quantum compass model.
Breakthrough discovery in magnetic materials could unlock new quantum states
Image of a shark underwater with closeups of the molecular structures of TMAO and urea
Under water and under pressure!
​​Arrangement of 3,4,5-TNP molecules in the crystal structure of Form II​. Nitrogen atoms shown as blue, carbon as grey, oxygen as red and hydrogen as white.​ Image taken from paper.​​
Going bang in the beamline!
Team member