Question

how do you chose the energy range of radiating particles/phonons to study the structure of a lattice?

Answer 1

To study the structure of a lattice, the wavelength of the light used should be comparable to the crystal lattice spacing.

(just like using a meter scale to measure length of a table, and a long tape to measure the length of a road)

The atomic and molecular crystals usually have an inter lattice separation of 1-10 (1 Armstrong = 10^-10 m)

So, the wavelength of light used is from 0.1-100 , typically giving more preference to 1-10.

Different materials have this range of wavelength.

In EM rays, X rays have wavelength in this range.

neutron and electron waves can also be used.

For X rays,

energy in keV is given by

For 1 X rays, E = 12.4 keV

For neutron rays,

For 1 neutron rays, E = 0.28 eV

For electron rays,

For 1 neutron rays, E = 12 eV