Crystalography

Science of determining the arrangement of atoms in solids; the scientific study of crystals. Crystallography relies on the analysis of the diffraction patterns that emerge from a sample bombarded by a beam of some type. The beam is commonly electromagnetic radiation (usually x-raysHigh-energy electromagnetic radiation, with short wavelength (~10-0.01 nm) and high frequency (greater than ~1016 Hertz). Although the boundaries are somewhat arbitrary, wavelengths shorter than 0.01 nm are called gamma-rays and those longer than 10 nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV). X-rays would be produced by blackbody radiation at temperatures in excess of; x-ray diffractionAnalytical technique used to determine the structures of crystalline solids. A monochromatic beam of X-rays (usually Cu-Kα) is diffracted off repeating planes of atoms in crystalline samples to produce a diffraction pattern. Through analysis of the diffraction pattern, atomic structures can often be determined.), but for some purposes electrons or neutrons are used (electron or neutronCharge-neutral hadron with a mass of 1.6748 x 10-27 kg, equivalent to 939.573 MeV, and an intrinsic angular momentum, or spin, of ½ (in units of h/2π). The neutron is a nucleon, one of the two basic constituents of all atomic nuclei (apart from 1H, which consists of a single diffraction).