Neutron scattering is a spectroscopic method that uses neutron

Neutron

The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...

 scattering

Scattering

Scattering is a general physical process where some forms of radiation, such as light, sound, or moving particles, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by one or more localized non-uniformities in the medium through which they pass. In conventional use, this also includes deviation of...

 to measure atomic and magnetic motions of atoms. Inelastic neutron scattering observes the change in the energy of the neutron as it scatters from a sample and can be used to probe a wide variety of different physical phenomena such as the motions of atoms (diffusional or hopping), the rotational modes of molecules, sound modes and molecular vibration

Molecular vibration

A molecular vibration occurs when atoms in a molecule are in periodic motion while the molecule as a whole has constant translational and rotational motion...

s, recoil in quantum fluid

Quantum fluid

A quantum fluid can refer to a cluster of valence electrons moving together after they undergo fermionic condensation.Under extremely high pressures and low temperatures electrons may condense into a quantum fluid...

s, magnetic and quantum excitations or even electronic transitions.

See also

• Neutron diffraction
  Neutron diffraction
  Neutron diffraction or elastic neutron scattering is the application of neutron scattering to the determination of the atomic and/or magnetic structure of a material: A sample to be examined is placed in a beam of thermal or cold neutrons to obtain a diffraction pattern that provides information of...
  
  
• Raman scattering
  Raman scattering
  Raman scattering or the Raman effect is the inelastic scattering of a photon. It was discovered by Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and Kariamanickam Srinivasa Krishnan in liquids, and by Grigory Landsberg and Leonid Mandelstam in crystals....
  
  
• Infrared scattering