Beyond Bragg Peaks: Advanced Diffuse X-ray Scattering for Multiscale Structural Insights

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Abstract
X-ray scattering has long been a cornerstone for elucidating structures in condensed matter. Sharp Bragg reflections at reciprocal lattice points provide detailed structural information with lattice translational symmetry, while the diffuse X-ray scattering captures deviations from the lattice-averaged structure. Recent advances in synchrotron light sources, detectors, and data-analysis methods have greatly expanded the potential of diffuse scattering based X-ray techniques in condensed matter science. In this paper, we exhibit that potential by presenting representative studies of lattice dynamics using inelastic X-ray scattering, low-dimensional order characterized through pair distribution function analysis, short range correlations of point defects in strongly correlated oxides, and nanoscale morphology revealed by coherent X-ray diffraction imaging. These case studies demonstrate how diffuse scattering bridges length scales from atomic vibrations to mesoscopic order, unlocking information inaccessible to Bragg-only approaches.

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