PSI Course for Master students: introducing photons, neutrons and muons for condensed matter physics and materials science

The course runs for one week in June (15th to 19th). It takes place at the campus of the Paul Scherrer Institute. The morning consists of introductory lectures on the use of photons, neutrons and muons for materials characterization. The afternoon consists of tours of the large scale facilities as well as in-depth visit to selected instruments. he aim of the course is that the students acquire a basic understanding on the interaction of photons, neutrons and muons with matter and how one can use these as tools to solve specific problems on condensed matter and materials research.

Topics: Interaction of photons, neutrons and muons with matter, Production of photons, neutrons and muons, Experimental setups: optics and detectors, Crystal symmetry, Bragg’s law, reciprocal lattice, structure factors, Elastic and inelastic scattering with neutrons and photons X-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, Polarized neutron scattering for the study of magnetic materials, Imaging techniques using x-rays and neutrons, Introduction to muon spin rotation, Applications of muon spin rotation