NEUTRON-SCATTERING STUDY OF SYSTEMS WITH DISORDERED HYDROGEN-BONDS

Hydrogen bonding is often one of the key factors determining the prope rties of condensed media and, above all, of various biological objects . The spatial distribution of protons in a crystal and their dynamics are successfully studied by the methods of neutron scattering because of a large scattering amplitude of thermal neutrons scattered by hydro gen and the small mass of a proton. Below, some methods of neutron sca ttering by crystals, their applications to the study of phase transiti ons in crystals with hydrogen bonding, proton diffusion in crystals wi th such bonding, and the structural and dynamical properties of proton dipole glasses and some biological systems are reviewed.