The discovery of superconducting materials has led to their use in technological marvels such as magnetic-field sensors in MRI machines, powerful research magnets, short transmission cables, and high-speed trains. Despite such applications, the uses of superconductors are not widespread because they function much below room-temperature, hence the costly cooling. Since the discovery of Cu- and F...

X-ray powder diffraction and synchrotron radiation have been used to determine the lattice parameter of the NIST standard reference material (SRM 660) LaB6 as 4.156468 Åwith an accuracy of 12 parts per million (p.p.m.), calibrated relative to the lattice parameter of the Si powder standard [a0 = 5.430940 (11) Å, Si 640b]. A discrepancy of 0.00048 (5) Å, or nine standard deviations from the NIST...

The effects of plastic deformation by ball milling on the structure of a partly amorphousAl87Ni8La5alloy were investigated by X-ray diffractometry. Lattice parameter, crystallite size and lattice strain of the fcc-Al precipitates were determined by Rietveld refinement, doubleVoigt approach and Williamson-Hall plots. The changes in lattice parameter of fcc-Al nanoprecipitates during ball milling...