Greninger Invents Simple Way to Locate Atomic Strata

A new and simple X-ray method for determining the location of the layers of atoms in a crystal of metal has been devised by Alden B. Greninger, a student in the Graduate School of Engineering at Harvard University.

In the technique now developed by Mr. Greninger, all problems involving cubic crystals may be solved with only one photograph, which can be taken in two or three hours and interpreted in a few minutes. The new method has its greatest usefulness in the study of materials which are opaque to X-rays, as are most metallic crystals. In most of these crystals the plane surfaces of the atoms lying in regular pattern diffract the X-rays within a relatively thin surface layer of the crystal. The method invented by Mr. Greninger is a variation of the method devised by Max Laue, 20 years ago.