Electron diffraction

Description

An image is formed in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) by electron diffraction. First observed in 1927 by G.P.Thomson, L.H. Germer, and C.J. Davisson, electron diffraction is used to study the molecular structure of materials. When a directed beam of electrons impinges on a crystalline material, the electrons are diffracted in a geometric pattern (diffraction pattern) that corresponds to the spacings in its structure.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Elektronenbeugung (Deut.); diffraction électronique (Fr.);

Authority

• Walter C. McCrone, John Gustave Delly, The Particle Atlas, W. McCrone Associates, Chicago, IV, 1972

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Electron Diffraction." Encyclopædia Britannica. 19 Aug. 2004 .

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000