Summary
Hugo M. Rietveld (7 March 1932 – 16 July 2016[1][2]) was a Dutch crystallographer who is famous for his publication on the full profile refinement method in powder diffraction, which became later known as the Rietveld refinement method. The method is used for the characterisation of crystalline materials from X-ray powder diffraction data. The Rietveld refinement uses a least squares approach to refine a theoretical line profile (calculated from a known or postulated crystal structure) until it matches the measured profile. The introduction of this technique which used the full profile instead of individual reflections was a significant step forward in the diffraction analysis of powder samples.
Hugo Rietveld | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 7, 1932 |
| Died | July 16, 2016 (aged 84) |
| Education | University of Western Australia |
| Known for | Rietveld refinement |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands |
| Doctoral advisor | Edward Norman Maslen |
| Other academic advisors | Dorothy Hodgkin |
Biography edit
Rietveld was born in the Hague. After completing Grammar School in the Netherlands he moved to Australia and studied physics at the University of Western Australia in Perth. In 1964 he obtained his PhD degree under Edward Norman Maslen with a thesis entitled "The Structure of p-Diphenylbenzene and Other Compounds", a single crystal neutron and X-ray diffraction study. Dorothy Hodgkin was an external examiner on his thesis. This investigation was the first single crystal neutron diffraction study in Australia and was conducted at the High Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR) in the Lucas Heights suburb of Sydney.
In 1964 he became a research officer at the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland, ECN) in Petten, where he worked together with Bert Loopstra and Bob van Laar on the structure solution and refinement of uranates and other ceramic compounds using neutron powder diffraction. In 1967 he implemented the full profile refinement method in a computer program, which he published in his 1969 citation classic.[3] This innovation, however, was only slowly adopted by the community, and so Rietveld in 1974 chose to become head of the library department at Petten.[4] He stayed at ECN until he retired in 1992.
Awards edit
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Hugo M. Rietveld, the Aminoff prize in Stockholm, 31 March 1995.
- Barrett Award on behalf of the Denver X-ray Conference Organizing Committee in Denver, U.S., 6 August 2003.
- The Royal Award of Officer in the Order of Oranje-Nassau, for his outstanding contribution to the field of chemistry. Alkmaar, Netherlands, 28 October 2004.
- Award for Distinguished Powder Diffractionists, awarded by The European Diffraction Conferences, handed out on 30 August 2010 in Darmstadt.
- Hans-Kühl-Medal 2010, awarded by Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh), Fachgruppe Bauchemie, handed out on 7 October 2010 in Dortmund.
Further reading edit
- Young, R. A. (Ed.). (1993). The Rietveld method (Vol. 6). Oxford. Oxford University Press.
- Rietveld, H. M. (1 January 1967). "Line profiles of neutron powder-diffraction peaks for structure refinement". Acta Crystallographica. 22 (1). International Union of Crystallography (IUCr): 151–152. doi:10.1107/s0365110x67000234. ISSN 0365-110X.
- Rietveld, H. M. (2 June 1969). "A profile refinement method for nuclear and magnetic structures". Journal of Applied Crystallography. 2 (2). International Union of Crystallography (IUCr): 65–71. doi:10.1107/s0021889869006558. ISSN 0021-8898.
- Rietveld, H. M. (2010). "The Rietveld Method: A Retrospection". Zeitschrift für Kristallographie. 225 (12). Walter de Gruyter GmbH: 545–547. Bibcode:2010ZK....225..545R. doi:10.1524/zkri.2010.1356. ISSN 0044-2968. S2CID 98124155.
- Rietveld, Hugo M (1 August 2014). "The Rietveld method". Physica Scripta. 89 (9). IOP Publishing: 098002. Bibcode:2014PhyS...89i8002R. doi:10.1088/0031-8949/89/9/098002. ISSN 0031-8949. S2CID 121006332.
External links edit
- Personal page Archived 13 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
References edit
- ^ Hewat, Alan; David, William I. F.; van Eijck, Lambert (2016). "Hugo Rietveld (1932–2016)". Journal of Applied Crystallography. 49 (4): 1394–1395. doi:10.1107/S1600576716012061. ISSN 1600-5767.
- ^ "Dr. Hugo M. Rietveld". www.familieberichtenopinternet.nl. Archived from the original on 23 July 2016.
- ^ Rietveld, H. M. (2 June 1969). "A profile refinement method for nuclear and magnetic structures". Journal of Applied Crystallography. 2 (2). International Union of Crystallography (IUCr): 65–71. doi:10.1107/s0021889869006558. ISSN 0021-8898.
- ^ Obituary Hugo Rietveld (1932–2016), loc. cit.