This grant in Experimental Physical Chemistry supports the study of anomalous scattering, a name for the effects of electronic structure on the amplitude and phase angle of an x-ray scattered by an atom when the photon energy is close to the electronic binding energy. The objectives are to understand these phenomena better, to learn how to take them into account in existing applications of x-ray scattering, and to seek new ways to use them to study chemical structure. Synchrotron radiation will be used to exploit effects which occur in narrow wavelength intervals close to absorption edges. Cadmium bromate dihydrate, vanadyl sulfate pentahydrate and barium bromate monohydrate will be studied. These substances exhibit exceptional x-ray optical properties which will then be compared with theory. Extensions of the theory will be developed to seek new ways to study structures of materials.
