Atomic pair distribution function and total scattering studies: Looking at materials on the nanoscale

Many modern materials under study for technologies from energy to the environment to health, are highly complex, often heterogeneous and nano structured. A full understanding of the structure requires us to go beyond crystallography and to study the local structure, which is a major experimental challenge. In this workshop, different aspects of analysing disorder in materials will e addressed and various applications of the techniques involved will be shown by our guest speaker Simon Billinge and scientists from DESY. Simon Billinge is professor for applied physics, applied mathematics, and materials science at Columbia University, and senior scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory. His research focuses on studying local-structure property relationships of disordered materials and nanocrystals by use of advanced x-ray and neutron diffraction techniques. In particular he is a leader in the development of the atomic pair distribution function (PDF) technique applied to complex materials. In his presentation, Prof. Billinge will describe recent efforts to improve the methodology from developments of fast data analysis, improved modeling and new experimental approaches, powered by the latest synchrotron sources, but also extended beyond such as obtaining ePDFs from electron diffraction data from regular laboratory electron microscopes. He will illustrate the power of these methods with scientific examples from energy materials and pharmaceuticals. DESY’s synchrotron light source PETRA III provides excellent conditions for science that exploits the PDF method. The inhouse research programme includes the study of chemically-synthesised nanoparticles and bulk metallic glasses. Time-resolved high-energy x-ray diffraction measurements enable the study of the growth of these materials and their transformations under non-ambient conditions. Beyond the existing high-energy beamlines at DESY, the future beamline P21.1 at the PETRA III Extension will serve the PDF community with outstanding performance. A status report will be given on the design and the scope of beamline P21.1. Programme: 13:00 – 14:00 S.J.L. Billinge, ‘Atomic pair distribution function and total scattering studies: Looking at materials on the nanoscale’ 14:00 – 14:30 A.-C. Dippel, ‘Tracking the formation of nanoparticles in solution on atomic scale’ 14:30 – 15:00 Coffee Break 15:00 – 15:30 J. Bednarcik, ‘Structure-property relations of metallic glasses studied by PDF’ 15:30 – 16:00 M. v. Zimmermann, 'Planning status of the P21 side station' Contact: Ann Christin Dippel ann-christin.dippel@desy.de