X-ray scattering techniques are a family of analytical techniques which reveal information about the

crystal structure In crystallography, crystal structure is a description of ordered arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from intrinsic nature of constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that repeat ...

, chemical composition, and physical properties of materials and thin films. These techniques are based on observing the scattered

intensity Intensity may refer to: In colloquial use * Strength (disambiguation) *Amplitude * Level (disambiguation) * Magnitude (disambiguation) In physical sciences Physics *Intensity (physics), power per unit area (W/m2) *Field strength of electric, m ...

of an

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

beam hitting a sample as a function of incident and scattered angle, polarization, and wavelength or energy. Note that

X-ray diffraction X-ray diffraction is a generic term for phenomena associated with changes in the direction of X-ray beams due to interactions with the electrons around atoms. It occurs due to elastic scattering, when there is no change in the energy of the waves. ...

is sometimes considered a sub-set of X-ray scattering, where the scattering is elastic and the scattering object is crystalline, so that the resulting pattern contains sharp spots analyzed by

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science of determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to Diffraction, diffract in specific directions. By measuring th ...

(as in the Figure). However, both

scattering In physics, scattering is a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including particles and radiat ...

and

diffraction Diffraction is the deviation of waves from straight-line propagation without any change in their energy due to an obstacle or through an aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the Wave propagation ...

are related general phenomena and the distinction has not always existed. Thus Guinier's classic text from 1963 is titled "X-ray diffraction in Crystals, Imperfect Crystals and Amorphous Bodies" so 'diffraction' was clearly not restricted to crystals at that time.

Scattering techniques

Elastic scattering

, sometimes called Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) * Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) probes structure in the nanometer to micrometer range by measuring scattering intensity at scattering angles 2θ close to 0°. *

X-ray reflectivity X-ray reflectivity (sometimes known as X-ray specular reflectivity, X-ray reflectometry, or XRR) is a surface-sensitive analytical technique used in chemistry, physics, and materials science to characterize surfaces, thin films and multilayers.J. ...

is an analytical technique for determining thickness, roughness, and density of single layer and multilayer thin films. * Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), a technique concentrating on scattering angles 2θ larger than 5°. Schematic IXS spectrum

Inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS)

In IXS the energy and angle of inelastically scattered X-rays are monitored, giving the dynamic

structure factor In condensed matter physics and crystallography, the static structure factor (or structure factor for short) is a mathematical description of how a material scatters incident radiation. The structure factor is a critical tool in the interpretation ...

S(\mathbf,\omega)

. From this many properties of materials can be obtained, the specific property depending on the scale of the energy transfer. The table below, listing techniques, is adapted from. Inelastically scattered X-rays have intermediate phases and so in principle are not useful for

. In practice X-rays with small energy transfers are included with the diffraction spots due to elastic scattering, and X-rays with large energy transfers contribute to the background noise in the diffraction pattern. *

References

External links

{{commons category, X-ray diffraction
Learning Crystallography

International Union of Crystallography

The International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD)

The British Crystallographic Association

Introduction to X-ray Diffraction
at

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

Laboratory techniques in condensed matter physics X-ray crystallography Materials science X-ray scattering

Scattering techniques

Elastic scattering

Inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS)

See also

References

External links