Definition
Plain language
A way of mapping where atoms sit in a solid by bouncing neutrons off it.
As stated in the literature
Scattering technique using thermal neutrons to resolve crystal structure and light-atom positions (notably hydrogen) that X-rays image poorly.
Why it matters: It is one of the few ways to locate very light atoms in a solid, which X-ray methods largely miss.
For example, researchers fire neutrons at a metal sample to see exactly where the absorbed hydrogen atoms are sitting inside it.
Heard on the show
“There's an electrolysis cell, volume fractions of vacancy phases in palladium, citations to neutron diffraction and density functional theory.”Episode 240 — Frontier Models Designed Follow-Ups To Fraudulent Papers 93% Of The Time