For many years it was believed that translational symmetry would be the fundamental property of crystal structures of natural and synthetic compounds. It is now recognised that many compounds crystallise without translational symmetry of their atomic structures. "Incommensurate Crystallography" gives a comprehensive account of the superspace theory for the description of crystal structures and symmetries of these incommensurately modulated crystals and incommensurate composite crystals. It thus provides the necessary background for quantitative analysis of incommensurate crystals by methods in Solid State Chemistry and Solid State Physics. The second half of "Incommensurate Crystallography" is devoted to crystallographic methods of structural analysis of incommensurate compounds. Thorough accounts are given of the diffraction by incommensurate crystals, the choice of parameters in structure refinements, and the use of superspace in analysing crystal structures. The presentation of methods of structure determination includes modern methods like the Maximum Entropy Method and Charge Flipping.

About the Author
Professor Sander Van Smaalen, Laboratory of Crystallography, University of Bayreuth, Germany.

Reviews
Good and timely. * Marjorie Senechal, Department of Mathematics and Science and Technology, Smith College, USA *
There is a need for a self-contained book on the structure analysis of incommensurate crystals. Potential readers of such a book would be all who are involved in structure analysis of aperiodic crystals plus solid state chemists and physicists. * Walter Steurer, Laboratory of Crystallography, ETH Zurich *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199659234
Author Sander Van Smaalen
Format Paperback
Page Count 284
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 506g
Dimensions(mm) 233mm * 168mm * 14mm