Ewald's sphere
Esfera de Ewald
- Date
- c. 1913 · confidence low
- Place
- Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- Credited to
- Paul Peter Ewald
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Geometric construction used in electron, neutron and X-ray diffraction that relates the wavevector of the incident and diffracted beams, the diffraction angle and the reciprocal lattice of the crystal; devised by German physicist and crystallographer Paul Peter Ewald.
What it led to
- Standard tool for interpreting crystallographic diffraction patterns
- Geometric basis of the dynamical theory of X-ray diffraction
- Application in electron and neutron diffraction in materials science