Distortions produced in the unit cell of a nonlinear organic crystal under
the influence of an applied electric field E are investigated by using sync
hrotron x-ray multiple diffraction (MD). A typical MD pattern shows numerou
s (hkl) secondary peaks and the position of each one is basically a functio
n of the unit cell lattice parameters. Thus small changes in any parameter
due to a strain produced by E give rise to a corresponding variation in the
(hkl) peak position. The method was applied to the meta-nitroaniline (mNA)
crystal and we were able to determine three piezoelectric coefficients. [S
0031-9007(98)07912-5].