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Twenty Years of Progress in X-Ray Diffraction Techniques

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Andre Guinier*
Affiliation:
University of Paris, Paris, France
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Abstract

Although no revolutionary advance has been achieved in the last two decades, X-ray diffraction is not to be considered as a quiescent field of physics. Actually many improvements, in theory as well as in experiment, slight by themselves but very numerous, have considerably increased the efficiency of techniques such as the determination of crystal structures, the analysis of crystalline phases, and the applications of X-rays to various problems of the physics of solids. Only the two last points will be dealt with here:

  1. 1. Crystalline phase analysis. The development of a satisfactory atlas of powder patterns has been too slow, and the data are not yet complete and precise enough to permit a rational utilization of the modern diffractometers. A very interesting new approach is the systematic indexing of the powder patterns which would be possible with computers. In the near future, anyone should be able to analyze a powder at any temperature as an easy routine experiment.

  2. 2. The study of lattice defects. X-ray techniques are now in competition with electron microscopy, the development of which has been very successful in recent years. Now we have a better understanding of the possibilities of both techniques. X-rays give better results to determine the statistics of an extended disorder even if it is slight (e.g., degrees of order in a solid solution), and the microscope is more powerful for the detection of large but rare defects (e.g., dislocations).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International Centre for Diffraction Data 1961

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