Introduction to Quasielastic Neutron Scattering

Abstract This tutorial introduction has been written for people who are not specialized in neutron scattering or in other scattering methods but who are interested and would like to get an impression and learn about the method of Quasielastic Neutron Scattering (QENS). The theoretical (scattering process) as well as the experimental basics (neutron sources, neutron scattering instruments, experimental periphery) are explained in a generally understandable way, with only the most essential formulas. QENS addresses the stochastic dynamics in condensed matter, and it is pointed out for which problems and for which systems in condensed matter research QENS is a powerful method. Thus sufficient information is provided to enable non-experts to think about their own QENS experiment and to understand related literature in this area of research.