Small Angle Scattering is a set of techniques to explore structures on the nano to micron scale. There is a wide array of information available for novice, intermediate, and even advanced small angle scatterers. Here we have collected a number of tutorials as well as a glossary of common terms (a.k.a. jargon).

Starters

Wikipedia has reasonably good entries on a range of small-angle scattering topics, including: small-angle scattering (SAS), small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), grazing incidence small-angle scattering (GISAXS/GISANS), and biological small-angle scattering.

Tutorials

• A nice "Beginner's guide to SAXS" (PDFs) along with other useful links are available from the Diamond Light Source.
• Something similar on "SAXS data reduction" is available from the NSRRC.
• Some movie and pdf tutorials for SANS are available from the NIST Center for neutron Research site.
• A List of EMBO courses for biological macromolecules, with recommended reading links is available on the BioSAXS website.
• Boualem Hammouda provides a number of SANS related tutorial materials on his home page.
• A tutorial for biological macromolecules studied with SAXS is available from BIOISIS (ALS at Berkeley). It includes sample preparation, measurement, reduction and analysis.
• Bob Thomas provides an interactive SANS tutorial.
• A tutorial on GISAXS by Detlef-M. Smilgies at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, and another by A. Meyer from the University of Hamburg.
• Spin-echo SANS is explained at the TU Delft webpage, with examples and further reading suggestions

Dessert

A glossary of common SAS terms

A suggested reading list for more detailed information on small-angle scattering techniques can be found in our bibliography, on the Resources page.