Structure factor

Common card · No. 462066

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 of scattering patterns (interference patterns) obtained in X-ray, electron and neutron diffraction experiments. Confusingly, there are two different mathematical expressions in use, both called 'structure factor'. One is usually written S ( q ) {\displaystyle S(\mathbf {q} )} ; it is more generally valid, and relates the observed diffracted intensity per atom to that produced by a single scattering unit. The other is usually written F {\displaystyle F} or F h k ℓ {\displaystyle F_{hk\ell }} and...

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