Howard Flack Crystallographic Lecture Series 2022
This year’s Howard Flack Lecture Series will focus on electron crystallography, with Dr. Lukáš Palatinus. The event takes place in November and includes a series of Swiss universities and research institutes.
Events will be held on-site with a following schedule:
- ETH Zürich, Monday, November 7, 10:00
HCI Lecture Hall J 4, ETHZ, Campus Hönggerberg
Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1-5/10, 8093 Zürich
- Paul Scherrer Institute, Monday, November 7, 15:30
OSGA/EG06, PSI
Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen-PSI
- University of Basel, Tuesday, November 8, 14:15
Lecture Hall 4.04, Department of Chemistry, Physical Chemistry
Klingelbergstrasse 80, 4056 Basel
- University of Bern, Wednesday, November 9, 16:30
Lecture Hall EG16, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern
- EPF Lausanne, Thursday, November 10, 16:30
Lecture hall BCH 2201 (Batochime UNIL) Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering (ISIC)
Av. F.-A. Forel 2, 1015 Lausanne
- University of Geneva, Friday, November 11, 12:15
Auditorium A100, Science II
30, quai Ernest‐Ansermet, 1211 Genève 4
About the Speaker
A crystallographer by education, Dr. Lukáš Palatinus has for a long time been driving developments regarding crystallographic software and diffraction methods, with a particular focus on electron diffraction. Dr. Palatinus studied mineralogy and geochemistry at Charles University in Prague. Since 2009, he is the head of the group of electron crystallography at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. He and his co-workers are developing methods for crystal structure analysis from electron diffraction data, with a focus on structure refinement from 3D electron diffraction tomography data using the dynamical diffraction theory.
Abstract
The lectures will be focused on the theory and practice of 3D electron diffraction (3D ED) – a crystallographic technique allowing structure analysis from single submicrometric crystals. This technique was born almost two decades ago, but it is now going through a phase of explosive development. Some eight years ago its general applicability and achievable accuracy was still a matter of debates. Five years ago, first reports showing reliable localization of hydrogen atoms by 3D ED appeared, and refinements with figures of merit approaching those of X-ray diffraction became possible. Today, observation of hydrogens and other structural details is considered routine, and advanced applications like charge density analysis from 3D ED data are appearing.
The lectures will give an overview of this development and they will be especially focused on the possibilities 3D ED offers today in literally all areas of structural crystallography. Applications to materials ranging from intermetallic alloys including precipitates through multiphasic mineralogical samples all the way to hydrated materials, MOFs and complex organic materials will be given. The determination of absolute structure by electron crystallography will be demonstrated and discussed. Existing limitations of the method will also be pointed out together with the prospect for overcoming them. It will be shown that 3D ED is ripe enough to be immediately useful for material scientists and chemists who need crystallographic characterisation of microcrystalline materials, but it is also young enough to offer exciting opportunities for any crystallographer wishing to contribute to its development.