The early development of neutron diffraction: science in the wings of the Manhattan Project
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States)
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States)
Early neutron diffraction experiments performed in 1944 using the first nuclear reactors are described. Although neutron diffraction was first observed using radioactive decay sources shortly after the discovery of the neutron, it was only with the availability of higher intensity neutron beams from the first nuclear reactors, constructed as part of the Manhattan Project, that systematic investigation of Bragg scattering became possible. Remarkably, at a time when the war effort was singularly focused on the development of the atomic bomb, groups working at Oak Ridge and Chicago carried out key measurements and recognized the future utility of neutron diffraction quite independent of its contributions to the measurement of nuclear cross sections. Ernest O. Wollan, Lyle B. Borst and Walter H. Zinn were all able to observe neutron diffraction in 1944 using the X-10 graphite reactor and the CP-3 heavy water reactor. Subsequent work by Wollan and Clifford G. Shull, who joined Wollan’s group at Oak Ridge in 1946, laid the foundations for widespread application of neutron diffraction as an important research tool.
- OSTI ID:
- 22347674
- Journal Information:
- Acta Crystallographica. Section A, Foundations of Crystallography, Vol. 69, Issue Pt 1; Other Information: PMCID: PMC3526866; PMID: 23250059; PUBLISHER-ID: wl5168; OAI: oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3526866; Copyright (c) T. E. Mason et al. 2013; This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are cited.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0108-7673
- Country of Publication:
- Denmark
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A brief History of Neutron Scattering at the Oak Ridge High Flux Isotope Reactor
Twentieth Anniversary of the Biology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory