Simple estimates of the thermal diffuse scattering contribution to Bragg peaks

The thermal diffuse scattering (TDS) contribution to X-ray Bragg peaks is discussed in terms of its two experimental components, the included and the background parts. The discussion is primarily directed toward situations where detailed elastic constant information and a large computer are not available. Graphs are displayed which, in the spherical average approximation, allow an accurate assessment of the influence of all the experimental variables on the TDS contribution. It is shown that, even in the general case where spherical averaging is a poor approximation, the included TDS varies linearly with length of scan for small scans. A technique for determining the constant of proportionality is suggested. Thus the included TDS may be evaluated even though the elastic constants are not known.