Abstract

The accurate determination of nuclear and magnetic structure is crucial in understanding new materials. Owing to the special properties of the neutron, namely the almost random variation of the scattering lengths as a function of atomic number and the fact that it possesses a magnetic moment, neutron diffraction can reveal delicate structural and magnetic details hard to obtain via other techniques. However, neutron scattering is essentially a flux limited technique compared to some of these other techniques and is therefore associated with the need for large samples. In this talk, I will briefly review some recent developments in neutron instrumentation and sample environment which have enabled cutting edge experiments to be performed on functional materials and/or small samples and then focus on scientific examples taken in the fields of complex magnetic structures, multiferroics, thin film magnetism and Molecular Organic Frameworks.