Polarised nuclei for neutron science: recent applications and perspectives

Neutron scattering on nuclei is spin dependent, particularly strongly for 1H. The means to achieve large nuclear polarisations and its use for structure analysis or as spin-handling device are reviewed. High resolution (diffraction) as well as low resolution (SANS) measurements can benefit from polarised nuclei by changing selectively the form factors of Bragg reflections or the contrasts (the scattering length density profiles) in SANS. The internal structure of ribosomes and the conformation of polymers in solution have been investigated by this method. A numerical simulation is presented to show the influence of steady-state polarisation of protons on the scattering from a protein-ARN model complex. In addition, a more recent technique, time-resolved SANS is described. It makes use of spatial polarisation gradients created around paramagnetic centres at the onset of nuclear polarisation. Such polarisation domains can enhance considerably the scattering amplitude of free radicals and thus contribute to determine their positions inside a complex protein. Examples of possible future experiments are proposed which combine simultaneously the selectivity of solid-state NMR techniques and neutron scattering.