X-Ray Diffraction from Nanocrystals

Abstract

X-ray diffraction studies on nanocrystals are discussed and the problem of structure determination is investigated. Especially a technique based on the calculation of Debye equation is presented. It permits to obtain information about the structure, the size and the shape of nanoparticles. Debye equation calculations are applied to two systems: in the first example the diffracted intensity is calculated for spherical orthorhombic Ta₂O₅ nanocrystals with sizes ranging from 1 to 6 nm to illustrate the size dependence of XRD patterns. In the second example the shape effect on XRD patterns from monoclinic HfO₂ nanocrystals is studied and, in order to determine their growth axis, the results were compared to experimental patterns.