Past and Present Crystallographic Work at the NBS/NIST Reactor

Neutron diffraction at NBS/NIST started soon after the NBS reactor became operational in the summer of 1969. Since that time, literally hundreds of crystal structures have been determined and refined using single crystal and powder neutron diffraction data, collected with a variety of instruments. This work has been usually done in collaboration with other NBS/NIST divisions and/or universities and industrial laboratories. In parallel with the technical developments and the experimental work, also theoretical aspects of crystal geometry have been clarified, and significant improvements in the techniques of profile refinements have been made. It is therefore understandable that a comprehensive description of all the crystallographic studies carried out up to the present is impossible under the constraints of space and time imposed by a review of this type, and, in the following sections, we will limit ourselves to give, only a brief account of the topics which, in our opinion, represent the highlights of the work carried out at the reactor.