Scope of School

Scope of School

Scientific Background

Neutron and photon sources offer unique possibilities by complementary use of the radiations for structural analyses of advanced engineering materials. By using neutrons and photons delivered by a synchrotron radiation source, information about materials microstructures can be obtained non-destructively in the near-surface region are as well as in the bulk of samples and components. Compared to conventional laboratory X-rays the spatial resolution achievable using synchrotron radiation can be improved by up to several orders of magnitude.

Diffraction methods reveal information about crystalline phase volume fractions, texture and residual stresses, while tomography provides complementary 3-dimensional images of the material’s microstructure. Both diffraction and tomography have increasing impact in the fields of design of tailored materials, their processing and lifetime assessment. The current situation regarding the exploitation of photons and neutrons for engineering materials science is characterized by rapid developments: flux increase of photon and neutron sources, refurbishment of existing as well as design and construction of new beamlines and instruments with optimised beam optics and position sensitive detectors as well as increasing quality and quantity of data.

These new possibilities for microstructure analyses for advanced materials and multi-material systems meet with increasing demands from the materials engineering point of view. In materials engineering, the establishment and refinement of relationships between microstructure parameters and macroscopic properties requires information on different length and time scales, both covering several orders of magnitude.

Our school “Application of Neutrons and Synchrotron Radiation in Materials Science with special focus on Fundamental Aspects of Materials” is designed to provide a systematic overview of this field to students from all over Europe. The programme will touch all methods mentioned above in a focussed theoretical course.