Abstract
WHEN a non-centrosymmetric crystal is studied by using X-rays of the wave-length λ a little shorter than the K- or L-absorption edge of some atom Z in the crystal, the hkl and h̄k̄l̄ reflexions should, in general, have different intensities. This effect was first observed by Coster, Knol and Prins1,2, using zinc sulphide and gold Lα2 radiation. The same method was used by Peerdeman, van Bommel and Bijvoet3, for sodium–rubidium tartrate and zirconium Kα radiation, in their beautiful confirmation of the correctness of the Fischer convention for optically active molecules. Bijvoet has also pointed out possible applications of the method, for example, in phase determination for non-centrosymmetric compounds4. The practicability of such applications is limited, however, by the difficulties of the technique.
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References
Coster, D., Knol, K. S., and Prins, J. A., Z. Phys., 63, 345 (1930).
Coster, D., and Knol, K. S., Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 139, 459 (1933).
Bijvoet, J. M., Peerdeman, A. F., and van Bommel, A. J., Nature, 168, 271 (1951). Peerdeman, A. F., van Bommel, A. J., and Bijvoet, J. M., Proc. Roy. Soc., Amsterdam, B, 54, 16 (1951).
Bijvoet, J. M., Nature, 173, 888 (1954).
James, R. W., “The Optical Principles of the Diffraction of X-Rays”, Chapter 4 and Appendix 3 (G. Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1948).
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GRENVILLE-WELLS, H., LONSDALE, K. Determination of Absolute Configuration by Laue Photographs. Nature 173, 1145–1146 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/1731145b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1731145b0
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