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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Atomic scattering factor, structure factor?

Also known as: atomic scattering factor · structure factor

Definition 9.9 University Chemistry — Year 3 · Chapter 9 — Crystallography and X-ray Diffraction

The atomic scattering factor fjf_j of an atom is the amplitude it scatters, in units of that of one electron; it equals its number of electrons in the forward direction and falls off at higher angles. The structure factor of reflection hklhkl is

Fhkl=∑jfj e2πi(hxj+kyj+lzj),F_{hkl} = \sum_jf_j\,\eu^{2\pi\iu(hx_j + ky_j + lz_j)},

summed over the atoms of the cell at fractional coordinates (xj,yj,zj)(x_j, y_j, z_j).

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