Diffuse + Bragg double scattering and specular reflection observed in the small-angle X-ray scattering from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Abstract

In the small-angle scattering from as-prepared and neutron-irradiated highly oriented pyrolytic graphite samples, a new type of streak pattern is observed near the (00l,00\overline{l})-type double Bragg scattering. This newly observed scattering is assigned as the double scattering whose first scattering is diffuse scattering near the 00l Bragg scattering and whose second scattering is the 00\overline{l} Bragg scattering. Specular reflection from the surfaces of the crystallites or microcracks is also observed as a streak. These two types of scattering from the neutron-irradiated sample show oscillatory behavior, unlike that from the non-irradiated samples. The scattering is analyzed using the sharp-boundary model, and is explained by the assumptions that the non-irradiated sample has interfaces with a width of about 1 nm and the neutron-irradiated sample has a slab-like structure with a thickness of about 14 nm.