Abstract
IN recent structure analyses of crystals it has been found impossible to obtain reliable atomic co-ordinates unless allowance is made for anisotropic thermal vibration of the individual atoms1. It has, of course, long been known that different atoms have different amplitudes of vibration even in cubic structures2. Weiss, DeMarco, Weremchuk, Corliss and Hastings3 have recently reported that the Debye factors for the 222 and 400 reflexions from α-brass are different, and they have asked how this can be, since they interpret Ott's theory4 as implying that the Debye factor for reflexions from a cubic crystal should be independent of crystallographic direction.
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References
For example, Vaughan, P., and Donohue, J., Acta Cryst., 5, 530 (1952). Cruickshank, D. W. J., and Jeffrey, G. A., Acta Cryst., 7, 646 (1954).
Waller, I., and James, R. W., Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 117, 214 (1927).
Weiss, R. J., DeMarco, J. J., Weremchuk, G., Corliss, L., and Hastings, J., Acta Cryst., 9, 1 (1956).
Ott, H., Ann. Phys. Lpz., 23, 169 (1953).
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LONSDALE, K., GRENVILLE-WELLS, H. Anisotropic Temperature Factors in Cubic Crystals. Nature 177, 986–987 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/177986a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/177986a0
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