The shape of reflections on X-ray, single-crystal photographs (With Plates X and XI)

Abstract

In the early days of X-ray crystallography the study of the atomic and molecular structure of crystals was of primary importance. It was more necessary to know the arrangement of the atoms in, say, rocksalt, quartz, diamond, or graphite, than to know the exact distances apart of the atoms, or the small deviations from the mean atomic structure which may result from heat movements, eccentricity of growth, mechanical distortion, and other factors.Now, however, the range of problems is widening, and X-ray methods are being used as a research tool by many workers whose main interest is in other branches of science. It is necessary, therefore, to point out that the familiar Bragg law, nλ = 2d sin θ, which relates order of spectrum n, wave-length λ, crystal spacing d, and diffraction angle θ in an ideal crystal, though still of course applicable, must be applied with some caution to crystals which are not ideal in either structure or texture, and which may be of irregular or eccentric shape.