Total-scattering pair-distribution function analysis of zinc from high-energy synchrotron data

Abstract

The crystal structure of zinc metal deviates from the ideal hexagonal close packing structure by a significantly increased axial ratio (c/a). The local atomic structure of zinc metal is investigated using the total scattering atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis based on X-ray powder diffraction data collected at ambient conditions. The X-ray total scattering PDF analysis confirms that the crystal structure of zinc can be described in terms of wurtzite structure, but with an anomalously atomic displacement parameters [Formula: see text], indicating a significant displacement disorder along the [Formula: see text]-axis. For the long [Formula: see text]-range PDF refinements, the thermal motion of zinc shows a notable anisotropy as expressed by the ratio [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] of 2.5 at ambient conditions. This average distortion level along the [Formula: see text]-axis, was not reflected locally for the features below 5.0 Å as it fits the high [Formula: see text] region. Based on PDF refinements over different [Formula: see text]-ranges, we measure an interesting increase of the [Formula: see text] value with decreasing the [Formula: see text]-range of the refinement. This suggests that the local structure features in zinc metal differ from the average structure ones.