Description

A phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering colors the sky red when the sun is setting. We employ scattering using X-rays to determine the crystal structure of materials. The image shows a simulated X-ray scattering pattern of a studied material using a custom colormap based on the colors of a sunset.

In our research, we scatter X-rays of crystal structures and analyze the scattering angles and patterns. We use these patterns to determine the crystal structure of a material, or in other words, analyze how the atoms are arranged in a material. Simulating the diffraction pattern of a structure is crucial for comparing measured results to our expectations. The displayed image is the output of a self-build python-based simulation code using the X-ray structure factor. It shows the 2D X-ray diffraction pattern in k-space of the proposed crystal structure of a studied quantum material. Larger spot sizes indicate higher diffraction intensities and are a result of the placement of different atoms within the crystal.