How to characterize disorder

Researchers working on nuclear materials encounter disorder in the atomic structure all the time, usually caused by irradiation. The nature of disorder varies widely, from lattice defects to amorphous phase formation. Generally it is not easy to characterize the state of disorder with the accuracy necessary to elucidate the properties caused by structural disorder. However, owing to advances in the tools of characterization and rapid rise in computer power, significant progress has been made in characterizing structural disorder. We discuss how to describe and determine the structure and dynamics of disordered materials using scattering measurements and modeling. Lattice defects caused by irradiation usually has negative effects on properties, but glasses and highly disordered materials can be irradiation resistant, and could be useful as nuclear materials. Characterizing and controlling disorder is becoming an important endeavor in the field of nuclear materials.