BCA Spring Meeting 2002 University of Nottingham Monday 25 March to Thursday 28 March 2002

A Tutorial session in two parts:

Part I - by J. M. Parker, University of Sheffield.

For many purposes the diffuse X-ray scattering produced by a glassy phase is regarded as a nuisance when trying to obtain diffraction data from crystalline phases. However it does contain useful information about the structure and quantity of glassy phase present, although there are no diffraction pattern datafiles available to aid this process. In this tutorial session methods of measuring and interpreting the scattering from the glassy phase will be discussed and a number of case studies of applications of these techniques presented. Finally the application of neutron diffraction will be shown to provide additional valuable information, complementing the results obtainable using X-rays.

Part II - by G. R. Mitchell, University of Reading.

Many materials exhibit structures containing both crystalline and non-crystalline phases. A key characteristic of such semi-crystalline materials is the degree of crystallinity. We can easily distinguish between the scattering from the crystalline and amorphous regions of the sample by the sharpness of the diffraction peaks. In this tutorial session, quantitative methods of evaluating the crystalline and amorphous fractions of these samples from x-ray scattering data will be introduced and a number of examples which illustrate the methodology will be followed. The relationship between the level of crystallinity or fraction of amorphous material measured using x-ray scattering techniques and other physical techniques will be discussed.

For more information please contact the session organiser: Dave Taylor ([email protected] or tel. 01744 893108).