High-energy X-ray diffraction studies of non-crystalline materials

High-energy (E greater than or equal to 30 keV) X-ray diffraction with the latest generation synchrotron sources as well as the introduction of advanced insertion devices: wiggler and undulator, has created new approaches to the quantitative study of the structure of non-crystalline materials because of several improvements: higher resolution in real space due to a wide range of Q, smaller correction terms (especially for absorption correction), reduction of truncation errors, the feasibility of running under extreme environments, including high-temperatures and high-pressures, and of obtaining a direct comparison between X-ray and neutron diffraction data. Recently, this technique has been combined with neutron diffraction with a pulsed source to provide more detailed and reliable structural information not previously available. This article reviews and summarizes recent results obtained from high-energy X-ray diffraction on several oxide glasses: SiO2, B2O3, MgP2O6 and PbSiO3, using bending magnet beamlines at Super Photon ring-8 (GeV) (SPring-8). In particular, it addresses the structural models of oxide glasses obtained by the reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modelling technique using both the high-energy X-ray and neutron diffraction data. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.