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 was developed to refine neutron diffraction data, but is applicable to other diffraction experiments as well, like X-ray diffraction. 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(1932-03-07)March 7, 1932
DiedJuly 16, 2016(2016-07-16) (aged 84)
EducationUniversity of Western Australia
Known forRietveld refinement
Scientific career
InstitutionsEnergy Research Centre of the Netherlands
Doctoral advisorEdward Norman Maslen
Other academic advisorsDorothy Hodgkin

Biography

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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 as his own achievement under his own name in his 1969 citation classic.[3] After publishing this important project alone, Rietveld found his position in the small Petten group increasingly difficult. In 1974 he successfully applied for the post of head of the ECN library, a function that had been vacant for some time, and consequently he left science. He remained with the library until his retirement in 1992.[4]

Awards

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Further reading

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  • 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.
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References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Dr. Hugo M. Rietveld". www.familieberichtenopinternet.nl. Archived from the original on 23 July 2016.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Obituary Hugo Rietveld (1932–2016), loc. cit.