Atomic pair distribution function analysis of materials containing crystalline and amorphous phases
Proffen T., Page KL., McLain SE., Clausen B., Darling TW., TenCate JA., Lee SY., Ustundag E.
The atomic pair distribution function (PDF) approach has been used to study the local structure of liquids, glasses and disordered crystalline materials. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of the PDF method to investigate systems containing a crystalline and an amorphous structural phase. We present two examples: Bulk metallic glass with crystalline reinforcements and Fontainebleau sandstone, where an unexpected glassy phase was discovered. In this paper we also discuss the refinement methods used in detail.