Condensed Matter Physics - X-Ray Diffraction & Crystallography : Neutron Diffraction by Crystals
Being a micro particle, neutrons have also wave character, in accordance with de-Broglie hypothesis. As neutrons have associated wave packets, therefore they can be diffracted by crystals just like electrons and x-rays and can be used to explore the crystal structure. Here you will find just the comparison between the x-ray, electron and neutron diffractions. The energy of a neutron of wave length 1 angstrom is almost 0.08 ev, which is much smaller than the energy of the electron and x-ray of same wavelength. Thus the penetration ability of neutrons is much less than that of electron and x-rays. Neutron diffraction is primarily used for the study of magnetic properties of solids.