Study of X-ray diffraction processes in ADP crystals under the influence of temperature gradient

The influence of temperature gradient on the intensity of X-ray beam reflected from atomic planes of antiferroelectric crystal of ammonium dihydro-phosphate (ADP) was studied. It was found that under the influence of temperature gradient on ADP crystal, the intensity of diffracted X-ray beam initially decreases at small values of gradient and then monotonously increases with increasing gradient. It is assumed that in the initial period of the action of temperature gradient the crystal domains have no time to orient in the same direction, and the intensity of beam decreases owing to the scattering of X-rays in different directions when reflected from the walls of boundaries of domains. After the alignment of domains, their arrangement in the same direction, separate areas of unidirectional domains are formed under the action of temperature gradient and the intensity of diffracted X-ray beam increases, as confirm the experimental data. The specified mechanism is supposed to occur also in other crystals having the domain structure.