The structure of the network glass-forming material ZnCl2 was measured using both neutron and high-energy x-ray diffraction for the glass at 298(1) K and for the liquid over the temperature range 601(1)–977(2) K. Intermediate range order, as manifested by the appearance of a first-sharp diffraction peak in the measured diffraction pattern for the glass at a scattering vector kFSDP≃1Å−1, is retained in the liquid state even at temperatures close to the boiling point. The correlation lengths associated with both the intermediate and extended range ordering are found to be inversely proportional to temperature. The reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) method was used to model the material, and the results at two different temperatures are compared to those obtained from RMC models based on the partial structure factors measured by using the method of isotope substitution in neutron diffraction. The models show temperature dependent structural variability in which there is an interplay between the fractions of corner-sharing versus edge-sharing ZnCl4 tetrahedra. Corner-sharing motifs are predominant in the glass, and edge-sharing motifs become more numerous in the liquid as the temperature is increased. The appearance of a first-sharp diffraction peak in the Bhatia–Thornton concentration–concentration partial structure factor is discussed in the context of classifying the different network types for glass-forming materials.

The high-resolution quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) technique has been applied to study the translational diffusion of methanol protons in pure methanol (MeOH) at 223 and 297 K, and in 0.3 and 1.3 molal non-aqueous electrolyte solutions (NAESs) of NiCl2 in methanol at 297 K. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, in conjunction with the present QENS results and our previously published structural results obtained by neutron diffraction isotopic substitution (NDIS) experiments, have been carried out in the NVT ensemble to explore the particle dynamics and microscopic structures of the experimentally investigated systems. The simulated structure of the ∼1.35 molal NiCl2–MeOH NAES has been compared with the structures of Ni2+ and Cl− coordination shells in ∼1.4 molal NAES obtained earlier by the NDIS technique.

The Joule heating is used to obtain different degrees of crystallisation in Fe87Zr6Cu1B6 and Fe91Zr7B2. Neutron diffraction experiments have been performed on a single ribbon to follow the nanocrystallisation under the same conditions. Hysteresis loops show the evolution of the saturation magnetisation and coercive field. The size of the crystallites remains 10–15nm, which is smaller than in samples nanocrystallised by treatment in furnaces.

Neutron diffraction experiments have been performed to investigate the structure of the ternary Co70Si30-xBx glasses with x = 9, 12 and 21 and Ni70Si9B21 in the 15 to 300 K temperature range. The reduced distribution functions G(r) allow a scrutiny of the contributions of the different pair correlations. The comparison of these functions for compounds with the same Co content has been especially useful in determining the assignments for the first pair distances, which are close to those of the binary alloys.

Hydrogen is well known to play an important role in the electronic properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon, a-Si:H. However, its precise location and thus the a-Si:H local order still remain uncertain. The aim of the present study, using the complementarity of steady state and pulsed neutron sources, is to provide accurate data concerning the short range order.

The moments method for deconvoluting experimental data from the resolution function, which has previously been investigated for reactor diffractometers, has been adapted and shown to be suitable for time-of-flight techniques as employed on pulsed neutron sources.

One of the problems in the measurement of liquid structure factors by neutron diffraction is the determination of the resolution correction. Existing estimates of the corrections involved are reviewed and the performance of the moments method for deconvoluting experimental data from the resolution function of the diffractometer are investigated.

The accurate determination of the structure of liquids and amorphous solids by neutron scattering depends on the understanding of the inelasticity or Placzek corrections. The corrections for liquid nitrogen have been calculated for three types of moderator on a pulsed neutron source. A new figure of merit is suggested and is shown to be useful in choosing the type of moderator to be employed.

Neutron diffraction measurements have been made at pressures up to 1 kbar on heavy water contained in a high-pressure cell manufactured from titanium zirconium alloy. The results have been used to test the degree to which the microscope structure is susceptible to isothermal compression. The likely future progress in this field is commented on.

A back-scattering neutron spectrometer with an energy resolution of ∼2μeV (FWHM) has been used to measure the diffuse quasielastic scattering from the ω-phase of Zr1-xNbx (0.18 < x < 0.19). It is found that the intrinsic energy-width of the scattering does not change between room temperature and 1000 K. At both temperatures the width is less than ∼0.2μeV and consistent with zero.

Theoretical results are presented for the incoherent neutron quasi-elastic scattering law for a simple model of a liquid crystal. Experimental results are given for magnetically aligned specimens of two nematogens at low momentum transfer using a back scattering spectrometer of high energy resolution (≈ 1μeV fwhm). It is shown that information about both rotational and translational motions are contained in the data and values are obtained for the components of the self-diffusion tensor perpendicular and parallel to the nematic director for 5CB (C5H11⦾—⦾ CN), D-5CB (C5D11 -) and D-MBCA (CD3O ⦾ CH=N ⦾ CN) and the diffusion constant for the isotropic liquid phase of D-5CB.

The structure of the quasielastic incoherent neutron scattering from polydimethyl siloxane has been determined at low momentum transfer under conditions of high resolution. Within the limits of experimental error the quasielastic peak is a single component; a two component peak was not found. The findings are consistent with a previous tentative interpretation of the quasielastic peak being due to a Doppler broadening phenomenon attributed to the long range conformational changes of the polymer backbone.