Lattices

In x-ray scattering, we frequently study materials which have constituents arranged on a well-defined lattice. For instance, an atomic crystal has atoms which occupy well-defined sites within a representative unit cell, which then repeats in all three directions throughout space. Nanoparticle superlattices are a nanoscale analogue, where each lattice site is occupied by a nanoparticle. Other kinds of nanostructures systems can be considered similarly. Block-copolymers mesophases can be thought of as nanostructures sitting on lattice sites (e.g. cylinders in a hexagonal lattice).

Every lattice has a particular symmetry, which defines the reciprocal-space peaks which will appear.

See Also

• Wikipedia: Crystal Structure