On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 1:33 AM, Eleanor Dodson <[email protected]> wrote:

> Lattice translation is effectively one form of twinning, you can visualise
> it as a set of crystals where that lattice are aligned in 2 dimensions but
> there is slippage along the third. So each "reflection" is in fact the sum
> of two or more intensities and the twinning analyses should be valid. But as
> well you have the problem that some classes of reflections are very weak, in
> the same way as a pseudo translation affects the data.
> And the twinning tests via moments, H test and Britten test are all
> distorted by the weak/strong pattern so really the only effective test is
> the L test, and that too can be badly distorted by anisotropy and other
> defects.
>
> Apparently it is often possible to recognise a lattice defect by looking at
> the images, if you are good at that. Some classes of reflections will be
> very streaky ( where there is an overlap between the different crystal
> fragments) and others sharp. But once the data is integrated that
> information is lost.
>

This is something I've always been confused by.  Could these streaky
reflections be caused by something else?  Is it possible for lattice
translocation to be confused with translational pseudosymmetry?  I have seen
these streaky reflections (in alternating lattice lines) repeatedly for one
crystal form, and although I was able to refine one structure by treating it
as pseudotranslation, I'm worried I may have missed something important.  (I
do not see inexplicable extra density, if that matters.)

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