Wavelength-Modulated Diffraction System

Abstract

A new X-ray diffraction system has been constructed at the SR Center at Ritsumeikan University, in which the wavelength of the incident synchrotron radiation is continually and repeatedly changed over a definite range by rocking a couple of monochromator crystals while rotating a sample crystal and recording the diffraction pattern on a moving imaging plate detector. Bragg reflections appear as elongated spots and, if the wavelength range is chosen in the immediate vicinity of the absorption edge of an atom in the crystal, direct information on the phase of Bragg reflections can be derived from the intensity gradient of the elongated spots with respect to the wavelength. This method of phase determination is simple and free from the problem of intensity scaling encountered in the multi-wavelength diffraction method. When both a sample crystal and the detector are kept stationary while changing the wavelength, a pattern is obtained which is similar to Laue pattern, but there is a definite difference. The wavelength of the radiation that has given rise to the diffraction spot can be uniquely known and the diffraction intensity can be measured from the spectrum of the incident radiation. This method of diffraction has a wide range of applicability.