Correlation effects among atomic thermal displacements in oscillatory diffuse neutron scattering of ZnSe

Neutron scattering measurements have been performed on powder ZnSe at 15, 150 and 300 K. The temperature dependence of diffuse scattering is observed. Oscillatory diffuse scattering intensity is clearly observed at 150 and 300 K. The diffuse scattering theory including correlation effects among atomic thermal displacements is used as background function in the Rietveld analysis. The oscillatory diffuse neutron scattering intensity is explained by including the correlation effects among atomic thermal displacements of first, second and third nearest neighboring atoms. The inter-atomic distance and temperature dependence of the values of correlation effects among atomic thermal displacements are discussed.