Crystallography at ANSTO’s jewel, the OPAL reactor

Abstract

Australian neutron scattering leapt into the 21st century with the start up of the OPAL reactor at ANSTO in 2006. The major part of the initial success has been in crystallography, carrying on the excellent tradition established since the late 1950s at the HIFAR reactor. The combination of state-of-the-art instrumentation, support facilities, expert scientific staff, and enthusiastic users of OPAL has yielded an impressive series of scientific results, as well as a fledgling industrial programme, and has trained numerous students who are now highly respected ambassadors for neutron scattering. Here we give an overview of highlights in crystallography that have come from the capabilities offered by and around OPAL, and hint at further developments in the field. © 2014 Australian Institute of Physics Inc.