Atomic Form Factor
Revision as of 12:11, 20 January 2015 by KevinYager (talk | contribs)
The atomic form factor is the scattering contribution from a single, isolated atom. The form factor is generally described as encoding the shape of a scattering object. The atomic form factor thus encodes the shape of an atom. More specifically, it is the Fourier transform of the atom's spatial distribution (where the interpretation of 'spatial distribution' depends on the kind of scattering; e.g. electron distribution for x-rays, nuclear properties for neutrons).
