Neutron scattering elastic incoherent structure factor

Figure 10 Elastic incoherent structure factors for lipid H atoms obtained from an MD simulation of a fully hydrated DPPC bilayer, and quasielastic neutron scattering experiments on DPPC bilayers at two hydration levels for (a) motion in the plane of the bilayer and (b) motion m the direction of the bilayer normal.

The prerequisite for an experimental test of a molecular model by quasi-elastic neutron scattering is the calculation of the dynamic structure factors resulting from it. As outlined in Section 2 two different correlation functions may be determined by means of neutron scattering. In the case of coherent scattering, all partial waves emanating from different scattering centers are capable of interference the Fourier transform of the pair-correlation function is measured Eq. (4a). In contrast, incoherent scattering, where the interferences from partial waves of different scatterers are destructive, measures the self-correlation function [Eq. (4b)]. 

Quasi-elastic Neutron Scattering. Coherent and incoherent inelastic neutron scattering are unique experimental techniques to characterize molecular motions on a time scale between 10 and 10 s. The continued development of high resolution inelastic scattering techniques in the past two decades (157-159) enables measurement of the dynamic structure factor S(Q, co) and the... 

---