Scientific Research Division

    Neutron scattering has become a key technique for investigating the properties of materials on an atomic scale. The uniqueness of this method is based on the fact that the wavelength and energy of thermal neutrons ideally match interatomic distances and excitation energies in condensed matter, and thus neutron scattering is able to directly examine the static and dynamic properties of the material. Using neutrons that have been thermalized to cryogenic temperatures allows one to probe characteristic properties on the nanometer and nanosecond scale.  In addition, neutrons carry a magnetic moment, which makes them a unique probe for detecting magnetic phenomena.

    We use elastic and inelastic neutron scattering techniques to study cooperative phenomena in complex solids.  The group maintains and operates the cold triple axis spectrometer SIKA at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.  SIKA provides incident neutrons with a wide range of wavevectors and allows for large momentum transfers. A broad range of problems in condensed matter can be explored with SIKA, such as the study of magnetic and structural phase transitions and their associated fluctuations, superlattice reflections and critical exponents. It is well suited for the study of low-energy collective excitations with high energy and momentum resolution, the investigation of complex magnetic structures and by using diffuse scattering at SIKA one can investigate various effects of disorder.