NSRRC Activity Report 2022

Neutron Science I n this section, six notable studies from our user communities used neutron techniques to investigate the fundamental properties of magnetic materials at an atomic scale and used polymer science technology to complete investigations at a nanometer scale. The studies employed the SIKA cold neutron triple-axis spectrometer, ECHIDNA high-resolution neutron powder diffractometer, WOMBAT high-intensity neutron powder diffractometer, QUOKKA small-angle neutron scattering instrument, and PLATYPUS neutron reflectometer. The highlights of the studies include Chin-Wei Wang’s investigation of magnetic materials through the use of a neutron powder diffractometer, Chieh-Tsung Lo’s findings on photoresponsive polymers obtained using QUOKKA , and Ya-Sen Sun’s research using PLATYPUS to investigate block copolymer thin films. In addition, Shinichiro Yano reported valuable findings on the fundamental physics of magnetism, which were obtained using the inelastic neutron scattering technique on SIKA . All studies were conducted at the OPAL research reactor of the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering by using state- of-the-art neutron instruments. (by Shih-Chun Chung)