This important book presents a comprehensive account of the techniques and applications of single crystal neutron diffraction in the area of chemical crystallography and molecular structure. Beginning with a brief description of the general principles and the reasons for choosing the technique — the “why” — the book covers the methods for both the production of neutrons and the measurement of their scattering by molecular crystals — the “how” — followed by a detailed survey of past, present and future applications — the “what”. The coverage of both steady state and pulsed neutron sources and instrumentation is extensive, while the survey of applications is the most comprehensive yet undertaken. The book endeavours to show why the technique is an essential method for studying areas as diverse as hydrogen bonding and weak interactions, organometallics, supramolecular chemistry and crystal engineering, metal hydrides, charge density and pharmaceuticals. It is an ideal reference source for the research worker interested in using neutron diffraction to study the structure of molecules.

This important book presents a comprehensive account of the techniques & applications of single crystal neutron diffraction in the area of chemical crystallography & molecular structure. Beginning with a brief description of the general principles & the reasons for choosing the technique - the "why" - the book covers the methods for both the production of neutrons & the measurement of their scattering by molecular crystals - the "how" - followed by a detailed survey of past, present & future applications - the "what". The coverage of both steady state & pulsed neutron sources & instrumentation is extensive, while the survey of applications is the most comprehensive yet undertaken. The book endeavours to show why the technique is an essential method for studying areas as diverse as hydrogen bonding & weak interactions, organometallics, supramolecular chemistry & crystal engineering, metal hydrides, charge density & pharmaceuticals. It is an ideal reference source for the research worker interested in using neutron diffraction to study the structure of molecules. Contents: Crystallography & the Importance of Structural Information; Neutron Scattering; Neutron Diffractometers; Review of Applications I: The Accurate Location of Atoms; Review of Applications II: Hydrogen Bonding & Other Intermolecular Interactions; Review of Applications III: Probing Vibrations & Disorder; Impact on Material Properties & Design; The Future: New Instruments, New Sources, New Techniques. Readership: Students & researchers involved in structural science, especially chemical crystallography.

This is the first comprehensive account of diffuse neutron scattering, a unique tool for determining structural disorder in solids. The text takes the reader through theoretical, computational and experimental developments in the subject and describes in detail its application to a number of structural disorder problems. These include the more traditional subjects of substitutional disorder in alloys and orientational disorder in molecular systems as well as the more recent studies of superior and framework materials. Particular emphasis is placed on recent refinement methods for data interpretation and these are compared with established computer simulation techniques and analytical approaches. The book collects disparate themes into one unique volume, which is written as an introduction to the methods for graduate scientist and as a valuable reference or the expert crystallographer who wishes to apply modern interpretative techniques to diffuse scattering data.

Now neutron diffraction is widely applied for the research of crystal, magnetic structure and internal stress of crystalline materials of various classes, including nanocrystalls. In the present book, we make practically short excursion to modern state of neutron diffraction researches of crystal materials of various classes. The book contains a helpful information on a modern state of neutron diffraction researches of crystals for the broad specialists interested in studying crystals and purposeful regulation of their service characteristics, since the crystal structure, basically, defines their physical and mechanical properties. Some chapters of the book have methodical character that can be useful to scientists, interested in possibilities of neutron diffraction. We hope, that results of last years presented in the book, can be a push to new ideas in studying of crystalline, magnetic structure and a macrostructure of usual crystal materials and nanocrystals. In turn, it can promote working out of new materials with new improved service characteristics and to origin of innovative ideas.

Investigating the structure of a material is the first essential step in understanding its macroscopic properties. Getting insights of the interatomic and inter/intra-molecular interactions that influence the stability and the chemical behavior of a given compound allows its application in the best possible conditions and opens the way to design new materials with tailored properties. Neutron diffraction is a fundamental tool in structural characterization. Few examples concerning chemical crystallography, will be given to illustrate the properties that make neutrons the ideal probe for locating light atoms in the presence of heavy, electron-rich ones, and accurately determine atomic position and displacement parameters.

Neutrons, which are a penetrating yet non destructive probe, are ideally suited to studying the structure, organisation and motion of molecules responsible for the physical properties of materials under a variety of conditions. Applications are in fields as diverse as colloid and polymer science, earth sciences, pharmaceutics, biology and engineeri