The Atomic Pair Distribution Function Method: Local Structure of Crystals from Powder Diffraction. Simon J. L. Billinge Michigan State University

The local structure of disordered crystals can now be studied quantitatively using full-profile fitting of atomic pair distribution functions (PDF) obtained from powder diffraction data. We will review the procedures for obtaining accurate PDF's from experimental neutron and x-ray diffraction data, and the approaches which are now being taken to extract quantitative structural information from them. We will also give examples where this "real-space" approach to studying crystalline materials is giving novel insights which cannot be obtained from conventional analyses of Bragg diffraction.