Neutron scattering, once a technique that was the preserve of physics and chemistry, has grown to be applied in a much broader range of fields, spanning engineering, archaeology, life-science, and sustainable-energy applications. The present work focuses on two topics: first, the instrument design of the instrument VESPA, the future vibrational spectrometer of European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund (SE), and second, the application of neutron techniques to the characterisation of metallic artefacts.

VESPA, Vibrational Excitation Spectrometer with Pyrolytic-graphite Analysers, is a high resolution time-of-flight instrument, which is a neutron analogue of an IR/Raman spectrometer. VESPA has been designed to maximise the use of the long pulse of ESS, while maintaining a very good resolution and an extended spectral range (E0 = 3–503 meV). This was achieved by exploiting the wavelength frame multiplication technique and a system of optical blind choppers, which make it possible to trade flux for energy resolution.

The application of neutron diffraction and imaging techniques have long demonstrated their potential in the characterisation of dense materials in engineering and material science. In this project they have been used as a non-destructive analytical tool for the study of metallic artefacts of archaeometric interest. Three “pattern-welded” sword blades from the Viking age, provided by the National Museum of Denmark, have been fully characterised in terms of composition, manufacturing processes, and conservation status.