Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Determination of Crystal Structures

Determination of Crystal Structures

In the late 1800s, the revelation that light extended beyond visible wavelengths led to the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Roentgen. Recognized as high-energy electromagnetic radiation with short wavelengths, X-rays prompted exploration into their interaction with crystals. Max von Laue proposed in 1912 that the periodic arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in crystals would cause them to diffract X-rays, a hypothesis confirmed through experiments with copper sulfate and zinc sulfide...

X-ray Crystallography

X-ray Crystallography

The size of the unit cell and the arrangement of atoms in a crystal may be determined from measurements of the diffraction of X-rays by the crystal, termed X-ray crystallography.
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...

$X-ray Diffraction of Biological Samples$ 01:10

X-ray Diffraction of Biological Samples

X-ray diffraction or XRD is an analytical tool that utilizes X-rays to study ordered structures such as crystalline organic and inorganic samples, polycrystalline materials, proteins, carbohydrates, and drugs.
According to Bragg's law, when X-rays strike the sample positioned on a stage, the rays are scattered by the electron clouds around the sample atoms. The X-ray diffraction or scattering is caused by constructive interference of the X-ray waves that reflect off the internal crystal...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Unlocking a Chemically Fertile Moderate-Pressure Regime in High-Pressure Borate Synthesis Using Soft-Chemistry Precursors.

Inorganic chemistry·2026

Same author

Muscle Synergies During Countermovement Jump: Comparing Athletes and Nonathletes.

Motor control·2026

Same author

BDNF secreted by mesenchymal stem cells ameliorates the accelerated meiotic progression in aged mouse oocytes by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Stem cell research & therapy·2026

Same author

Class-Sensitive TPB-Guided Memory Refinement for Online Zero-Shot Anomaly Detection.

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same author

TKOA-GPNN: a model framework for genotype-to-phenotype prediction in Duroc pigs.

BMC genomics·2026

Same author

A scalable molten-salt epitaxy of analog-compatible correlated perovskites at micrometer-scale thickness.

National science review·2026

Same journal

On-Cell Detection of Polysaccharide One-Bond <sup>1</sup>J<sub>CH</sub> Couplings by Proton-Detected Solid-State NMR.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

Same journal

Correction to "Unraveling the Effects of Fe Incorporation on High-Performance Water-Splitting Photoanodes".

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

Same journal

Proximity-Driven Protein Ligation Beyond the Concentration Limit.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

Same journal

GraPhAI: Neural Networks for Solving Centrosymmetric Crystal Structures.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

Same journal

Probing Stage Transition Kinetics in Li-Graphite Intercalation Compounds by Time-Resolved In Situ Solid-State NMR via <sup>13</sup>C Labeling.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

Same journal

Dynamic Covalent Programming at DNA Base-Pairing Interfaces.

Journal of the American Chemical Society·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 2, 2026

$On-Chip Crystallization and Large-Scale Serial Diffraction at Room Temperature$

On-Chip Crystallization and Large-Scale Serial Diffraction at Room Temperature

Published on: March 11, 2022

Visualizing Structural Disorder in Submicron Crystals by 3D Electron Diffraction-Maximum Entropy Method.

Zhi Li^1,2, Jiali Zhou^1,2, Jiawei Zhang^1,2

¹State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China.

Journal of the American Chemical Society

|June 1, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

A new method, 3D ED-MEM, enables detailed mapping of electron density in submicron crystals using three-dimensional electron diffraction (3D ED). This technique accurately characterizes structural disorder, crucial for understanding functional materials.

More Related Videos

$Microcrystal Electron Diffraction of Small Molecules$

Microcrystal Electron Diffraction of Small Molecules

Published on: March 15, 2021

$Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene$

Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene

Published on: August 22, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 2, 2026

$On-Chip Crystallization and Large-Scale Serial Diffraction at Room Temperature$

On-Chip Crystallization and Large-Scale Serial Diffraction at Room Temperature

Published on: March 11, 2022

$Microcrystal Electron Diffraction of Small Molecules$

Microcrystal Electron Diffraction of Small Molecules

Published on: March 15, 2021

$Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene$

Measurements of Long-range Electronic Correlations During Femtosecond Diffraction Experiments Performed on Nanocrystals of Buckminsterfullerene

Published on: August 22, 2017

Area of Science:

Materials Science
Crystallography
Condensed Matter Physics

Background:

Structural disorder significantly impacts crystalline material properties but is challenging to characterize at small scales.
Three-dimensional electron diffraction (3D ED) offers crystallographic insights from micro- and nanocrystals but is limited in disorder analysis.
Conventional Fourier methods in 3D ED are hindered by artifacts and model bias, obscuring subtle electron density features.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a novel framework for quantitative, model-independent electron density mapping from submicron crystals using 3D ED.
To overcome the limitations of conventional Fourier methods in analyzing electron density from small crystalline samples.
To enable high-fidelity analysis of structural disorder and dynamics in functional materials.

Main Methods:

Developed a maximum entropy method (MEM)-based electron density reconstruction framework adapted for 3D ED (3D ED-MEM).
Integrated specialized procedures for extracting and transforming electron diffraction structure factors.
Applied 3D ED-MEM to submicron crystals, including silicon and disordered thermoelectrics.

Main Results:

3D ED-MEM enables quantitative, model-independent electron density mapping directly from submicron crystals.
The method achieves electron density accuracy comparable to synchrotron X-ray diffraction, as shown with silicon.
Successfully resolved trace interstitial ions and ionic migration pathways in disordered thermoelectric materials.

Conclusions:

3D ED-MEM overcomes intrinsic limitations of Fourier methods, extending 3D ED capabilities for high-fidelity electron density analysis.
This technique is powerful for materials where large single crystals or phase-pure powders are unobtainable.
3D ED-MEM provides a broadly applicable tool for probing structural disorder and dynamics in functional materials.