Rietveld refinement

Abstract

Rietveld refinement is generally the last stage of structure determination. The determination of unknown structures generally proceeds through a series of hypotheses of lattice, space group, atomic structure, each of which is subject to subsequent verification, so Rietveld refinement is the final test of the correctness of a structure. Unfortunately, there are not such clear tests of the veracity of a Rietveld refinement as there are of single crystal structures, and so a clear understanding of the process is required to judge a correct solution. This chapter will not directly address another frequent use of the technique, quantitative phase analysis, although many of the principles discussed here are relevant. There are any number of widely used programs and this chapter emphasizes the general features of the process over specific implementations. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.