CRIS0204-1 : Complement of crystallography

Study Programmes 2016-2017

CRIS0204-1

Complement of crystallography

Duration :

15h Th

Number of credits :

Master in chemistry (120 ECTS)		2
Master in geology (120 ECTS)		3
Master in geology (60 ECTS)		3

Lecturer :

Frédéric Hatert

Language(s) of instruction :

French language

Organisation and examination :

Teaching in the second semester

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents :

1) Introduction: the concept of crystal, symmetry, space groups, International Tables of Crystallography.

2) Basics of X-ray diffraction: production of X-rays, interractions X rays-crystal, the structure factor, systematic absences, the reciprocal lattice, the Ewald sphere.

3) The powder method: Debye-Scherrer camera, the powder diffractometer, phase identification, unit-cell parameters refinement, crystal structure refinement by the Rietveld method.

4) Single-crystal techniques: the rotation technique, Weissenberg camera, precession camera, the 4-circles diffractometer, crystal structure determination.

5) Results interpretation: catomic coordinates, site occupancy factors, temperature factors, calculation of unit-cell content, density and Z calculation, bond-valence sums.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit :

The principal purpose of the course is to give the basic concepts which allow to refine the crystal structure of an inorganic compound, from a single-crystal or from a powder. The last chapter gives the tools necessary to interpret the results of a crystal structure refinement.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills :

Basic concepts of Cristallography and X-ray diffraction techniques.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :

Numerous practicals are part of this course: resolution of crystal structures from X-ray powder diffraction data (Rietveld technique) or single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (4-circle diffractometer).

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :

The teaching timetable is 3h a week. The day and time have to be fixed with the students.