Neutron and X-Ray Scattering from Aggregates

Abstract

Scattering experiments are indispensable for the study structures and correlation functions in condensed matter science. Typically, the resulting information can be related to characteristic lengths for the system under study such as the correlation lengths near critical points, the radius of gyration of macromolecules, the mean square displacements for thermal vibrations etc. Also for scale invariant systems without a single characteristic length, such like the fluctuations at the critical point in a continuous phase transition, can scattering experiments be used to determine the characteristic power-law decay of the correlations. Scattering experiments are therefore also well-suited probes for the structures of randomly formed aggregates which appear self-similar over considerable ranges in length and thus can be considered as scale invariant, volume fractals^1–3.