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Structure and order in lamellar phases determined by small‐angle scattering
Author(s) -
Frühwirth Thomas,
Fritz Gerhard,
Freiberger Norbert,
Glatter Otto
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889804012956
Subject(s) - structure factor , scattering , lamellar structure , small angle x ray scattering , equidistant , small angle scattering , bilayer , form factor (electronics) , biological small angle scattering , fourier transform , small angle neutron scattering , optics , molecular physics , crystallography , dynamic structure factor , computational physics , chemistry , physics , neutron scattering , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , biochemistry , membrane
Multilamellar phases can be identified and characterized by small‐angle scattering of X‐rays (SAXS) or neutrons (SANS). Equidistant peaks are the typical signature and their spacing allows the fast determination of the repeat distance, i.e. the mean distance between the midplane of neighbouring bilayers. The scattering function can be described as the product of a structure factor and a form factor. The structure factor is related to the ordering of the bilayers and is responsible for the typical equidistant peaks, but it also contains information about the bilayer flexibility and the number of coherently scattering bilayers. The form factor depends on the thickness and the internal structure (scattering length density distribution) of a single bilayer. The recently developed generalized indirect Fourier transformation (GIFT) method is extended to such systems. This method allows the simultaneous determination of the structure factor and the form factor of the system, including the correction of instrumental broadening effects. A few‐parameter model is used for the structure factor, while the determination of the form factor is completely model‐free. The method has been tested successfully with simulated scattering data and by application to experimental data sets.