One possibility of determining the atomic structure of nanosized particles using diffuse-scattering data

A method based on using the Fourier transform of finite functions has been developed to reconstruct the distribution function of interatomic vectors in a nanoparticle from x-ray diffuse scattering data. This distribution is similar to the Patterson function used in the structure analysis of single crystals. The method for determining the structure has been developed and verified for an actual cluster consisting of 36 atoms. The atomic cluster structure was previously determined in single crystals with the fluorite structure (Cd_0.90Tb_0.10F_2.10. The vectors between heavy atoms are localized on the distribution of interatomic vectors and are used to construct superpositional synthesis. This synthesis yields the positions of the atoms in the nanoparticle. The method is also applicable to the nanocrystals with a limited number of unit cells.