X-Nico

unusual facts about Diffraction



Alex Stokes

campus of King's College London commemorating the contributions of Franklin, Gosling, Stokes, Wilson and Wilkins to DNA X-ray diffraction studies.

Atom vibrations

The basic tool for the measurement of the mean-square amplitude of vibrations is the X-ray diffraction.

David Whiffen

He was the first to successfully test the predictions of the underlying theory of Peter Debye, the Dutch-American theoretical physicist who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1936 for his work on molecular structure, the theory of dipole moments in liquids and the diffraction of X-rays and electrons in gases.

Debye–Waller factor

In diffraction studies, only the elastic scattering is useful; in crystals, it gives rise to distinct Bragg peaks.

Electron diffraction

Unlike other types of radiation used in diffraction studies of materials, such as X-rays and neutrons, electrons are charged particles and interact with matter through the Coulomb forces.

Head-related transfer function

HRTF describes how a given sound wave input (parameterized as frequency and source location) is filtered by the diffraction and reflection properties of the head, pinna, and torso, before the sound reaches the transduction machinery of the eardrum and inner ear (see auditory system).

Holographic data storage

Diffraction efficiency is proportional to the square of the index modulation times the effective thickness.

Horn loudspeaker

Subsequent to Keele's work and using his principles, Clifford A. Henricksen and Mark S. Ureda of Altec designed a strikingly different hybrid horn displaying constant directivity traits, the horizontal diffraction or "Mantaray" horn.

Kirchhoff's diffraction formula

If all the terms in f(x', y) can be neglected except for the terms in x and y, we have the Fraunhofer diffraction equation.

Labradorite

This labradorescence, or schiller effect, is the result of light diffraction within the lamellar intergrowths – fine, adjacent layers of the separate materials (lamellae) comprising the whole rock phase – created when conditions do not allow for sufficient diffusion to the materials' equilibrium composition.

Nestor J. Zaluzec

He developed Lorentz STEM imaging, High Angular Resolution Electron Channeling X-ray Spectroscopy (HARECXS), High Angular Resolution Electron Channeling Electron Spectroscopy (HARECES), Position Resolved Diffraction, as well as his invention of the scanning confocal electron microscope and the π steradian Transmission X-ray Detector, for which he was given the R&D 100 Awards in 2003 and 2010 respectively.

Paulscherrerite

While studying at the University of Göttingen in 1916, he and Peter Debye, Scherrer’s mentor and eventual Nobel Prize winner, developed the powder diffraction theory (the Scherrer equation) and designed the Debye-Scherrer X-ray powder diffraction camera.

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance

Membrane proteins and amyloid fibrils, the latter related to Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, are two examples of application where solid-state NMR spectroscopy complements solution-state NMR spectroscopy and beam diffraction methods (e.g. X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy).

Spatial cutoff frequency

If it were not for the effects of diffraction, a 2" aperture telescope could theoretically be used to read newspapers on a planet circling Alpha Centauri, over four light-years distant.

Talbot effect

The Talbot effect is a near-field diffraction effect first observed in 1836 by Henry Fox Talbot.

Wrapped Cauchy distribution

The wrapped Cauchy distribution is often found in the field of spectroscopy where it is used to analyze diffraction patterns (e.g. see Fabry–Pérot interferometer)


see also