Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Radial distribution functions (RDFs) for vitreous silica (V-SiO2)have been obtained from energy-filtered electron diffraction data obtainedin the HB5 scanning transmission electron Microscope. Results have beencompared with those obtained from high-resolution neutron diffractionexperiments, and are in good agreement within experimental errors. It wasfound to be impractical to obtain partial RDFs for this material fromcombined neutron, X-ray and electron diffraction data, because thesimilarities in characteristics of X-ray and electron scattering causeindeter-Minacies. A criterion equation has been given to determinefeasibility.