Scientific Review: Prospects and Challenges in Single Crystal Diffuse Scattering

Abstract

Until comparatively recently, condensed matter physics was mostly concerned with understanding the properties of ideally crystalline solids, and this has led to a detailed understanding of both the structure and dynamics of well-ordered materials. There is however growing interest in understanding complex materials in which disorder, and the nanoscale self-organization associated with it, plays an important role in their bulk properties, as many new phenomena that are attracting considerable interest in materials science are enhanced by the controlled introduction of quenched disorder [1]. Examples include magnetoresistive oxides, superconducting cuprates, ferroelectric relaxors, and fast-ion conductors.