Guinier plot

From GISAXS
Jump to: navigation, search

A Guinier analysis attempts to extract the size-scale for a structure by fitting the scattering to an equation of the form:

,

or equivalently,

Thus a plot of ln(I) vs. q2 can be used to highly the scaling of the scattering. A straight-line in such a plot is indicative of Guinier scaling. Such an analysis is typically only done with the low-q portion of the data. Linear (Guinier) scaling suggests that the system is essentially monodisperse; it can thus be used as a means of quality control before further data analysis (e.g. Form factor).

Rule of thumb

The larger one's particles are, the smaller the minimum q must be. One also only expects the Guinier scaling to be maintained up to a certain maximum q:

  • For spherical particles,
  • For elongated particles,

See Also