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• x-ray diffraction
  x-ray diffraction

  noun

  diffraction of x-rays by the regularly spaced atoms of a crystal, useful for determining the arrangement of the atoms.
• X-ray diffraction
  X-ray diffraction

  noun

  the scattering of X-rays on contact with matter, resulting in changes in radiation intensity, which is used for studying atomic structure

x-ray diffraction

American  

noun

Physics.

1. diffraction of x-rays by the regularly spaced atoms of a crystal, useful for determining the arrangement of the atoms.

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X-ray diffraction British  

noun

1. the scattering of X-rays on contact with matter, resulting in changes in radiation intensity, which is used for studying atomic structure

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x-ray diffraction Scientific  

1. The scattering of x-rays by crystal atoms, producing a diffraction pattern that yields information about the structure of the crystal. X-ray diffraction is used in x-ray crystallography.

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Etymology

Origin of x-ray diffraction

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

x-ray diffraction X-ray diffraction

Working with the molecules, he combined state-of-the-art experimental techniques including time-resolved in situ atomic-force microscopy at near-molecular resolution, x-ray diffraction, absorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microcopy.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 5, 2024

In their new study, published last month in Science, they analyzed MOF-303 using precise x-ray diffraction measurements that determine a molecule’s structure by measuring the way reflected x-rays interfere with one another.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 17, 2021

Peterson ran chemical and x-ray diffraction studies on track samples, testing, among other things, the soil's density, moisture content, and mineralogical qualities.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 27, 2019

Using x-ray diffraction data produced by Rosalind Franklin, they were the first to discern the structure of DNA that is so crucial to life.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

In this way, they can look at the molecular properties and x-ray diffraction patterns of the silk as it is produced.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 12, 2013

"Even better, our original inference of melting has now been confirmed directly with X-ray diffraction."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

The scientists used synchrotron X-ray diffraction to examine the boundary where the two oxide layers meet.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

X-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy characterized the structure and composition of materials at the nanoscale.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 26, 2024

Using X-ray diffraction, the researchers investigated the crystal structure.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 25, 2024

For almost forty years Bragg, a Nobel Prize winner and one of the founders of crystallography, had been watching X-ray diffraction methods solve structures of ever-increasing difficulty.*

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson