Reverse Monte Carlo

About: Reverse Monte Carlo is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1010 publications have been published within this topic receiving 18763 citations.

Reverse Monte Carlo modelling

Abstract: Reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) modelling is a general method of structural modelling based on experimental data. RMC modelling can be applied to many different sorts of data, simultaneously if wished. Powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction (including isotopic substitution), x-ray diffraction (including anomalous scattering) and electron diffraction, extended x-ray absorption fine structure and nuclear magnetic resonance (magic angle spinning and second moment) have already been used to provide data. RMC modelling can also be applied to many different types of system - liquids, glasses, polymers, crystals and magnetic materials. This article outlines the RMC method and discusses some of the common misconceptions about it. It is stressed that RMC models are neither unique nor `correct'. However, they are often useful for aiding our understanding either of the structure itself, or of the relationships between local structure and other physical properties. Examples are given and the possibilities for further development of the RMC method are discussed.

RMCProfile: reverse Monte Carlo for polycrystalline materials.

Abstract: A new approach to the reverse Monte Carlo analysis of total scattering data from polycrystalline materials is presented. The essential new feature is the incorporation of an explicit analysis of the Bragg peaks using a profile refinement, taking account of the instrument resolution function. Other new features including fitting data from magnetic materials, modelling lattice site disorder and new restraint and constraint options. The new method is demonstrated by a brief review of studies carried out during its development. The new program RMCProfile represents a significant advance in the analysis of polycrystalline total scattering data, especially where the local structure is to be explored within the true constraints of the long-range average structure.

DISCUS: a program for diffuse scattering and defect‐structure simulation

Abstract: The program DISCUS is a versatile tool for the analysis of diffuse scattering and for defect structure simulations. The model structure can be created from an asymmetric unit of a unit cell or a complete structure can be read from a file. A Fortran77 style interpreter that includes IF statements and various loops combined with predefined defect types like thermal displacements, waves and microdomains allows one to create all sorts of defect structures. The Fourier-transform segment of the program allows one to calculate neutron as well as X-ray intensities including isotropic temperature factors and anomalous scattering. The calculation of the inverse and difference Fourier transform as well as the Patterson function is also implemented. A model structure can be `fitted' to observed diffuse scattering data by reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) simulations. The RMC segment allows one to model displacive as well as occupational disorder. The program is completely written in Fortran77 and the source code is available via the World Wide Web.

Structural modelling of glasses using reverse Monte Carlo simulation

Abstract: ONE of the main difficulties in the study of glasses and other disordered materials is the production of structural models that agree quantitatively with diffraction data. In normal Monte Carlo simulation, an initial structure is allowed to rearrange in such a way that its energy is minimized. Reverse Monte Carlo simulation1 is a newly developed technique in which a structural model is adjusted so as to minimize instead the difference between the calculated diffraction pattern and that measured experimentally, so that good agreement is inevitable. No interatomic potential is required. Here we illustrate the potential of this method by fitting the structure of vitreous silica simultaneously to X-ray and neutron diffraction data. The result, a (mostly) continuous random network of corner-sharing SiO4 tetrahedra, is consistent with other models but, unlike them, is derived solely from the data.

Structure and Properties of an Amorphous Metal-Organic Framework

Abstract: ZIF-4, a metal-organic framework (MOF) with a zeolitic structure, undergoes a crystal-amorphous transition on heating to 300 degrees C. The amorphous form, which we term a-ZIF, is recoverable to ambient conditions or may be converted to a dense crystalline phase of the same composition by heating to 400 degrees C. Neutron and x-ray total scattering data collected during the amorphization process are used as a basis for reverse Monte Carlo refinement of an atomistic model of the structure of a-ZIF. The structure is best understood in terms of a continuous random network analogous to that of a-SiO2. Optical microscopy, electron diffraction and nanoindentation measurements reveal a-ZIF to be an isotropic glasslike phase capable of plastic flow on its formation. Our results suggest an avenue for designing broad new families of amorphous and glasslike materials that exploit the chemical and structural diversity of MOFs.