Local structure determination on the atomic scale

In this review, we briefly discuss recent developments in methods of local structure determination and their applications. Specifically, we shall discuss recent developments in diffraction anomalous fine structure, the observation of natural dichroism in X-ray absorption fine structure and some recent applications of the X-ray absorption fine structure method. We shall also discuss recent developments in X-ray holography and the development of a new method for the direct determination of the structure of two-dimensional crystals.