INTRODUCTION TO ACCURATE STRUCTURE FACTOR MEASUREMENTS OF DISORDERED MATERIALS BY NEUTRON-SCATTERING

An introduction is given to the field of structure factor determinatio n which gives direct access to the local and medium range order of dis ordered materials. We show how a great variety of simple to complex sy stems have been investigated with the aim of obtaining a full microsco pic description of the structure and to relating it to the macroscopic behaviour. Selected examples of high precision measurements illustrat e the state of the art of the neutron scattering determination of inte raction potentials in simple systems, intramolecular structures, local order and partial structure factors of complex systems.