Advantages of Neutron Diffraction in Texture Analysis

Neutron diffraction texture analysis is based on pole figure measurement followed by pole figure inversion. Neutron diffraction pole figure measurement is quite similar to that by X-rays. There are, however, several advantages in detail which are mainly due to the lower absorption coefficient. Besides these quantitative differences, there is one principle difference between the two methods. Neutron diffraction allows the magnetic texture to be measured which is not possible by X-rays. The paper gives a survey on the advantages of neutron diffraction texture analysis which are only counteracted by the limited availability and higher costs of neutron diffraction.