^{CREDIT: SEAN KELLEY/NIST} 

^{By Amal Pushp, Affiliate Physicist at the Resonance Science Foundation} 

Neutrons form a major component of baryonic matter. Except for hydrogen, neutrons are present in the central region (nucleus) of the atoms of all elements. Although they are electrically neutral, they are very crucial for the determination of atomic structure and its composition. One of the key reasons why they are influential is due to the fact that they can penetrate materials that optical radiations like X-rays usually cannot. 

The de Broglie hypothesis of quantum theory tells us that elementary particles can possess dual characteristics, wave and particle, depending on the situation. Just like the electrons, the wave characteristics of neutrons can also be employed to study materials and one of the major advantages in this regard is that the wavelength can be turned extremely small which in turn results in a high-resolution image of the sample under study. This...