Scaling and phase-difference determination in solvent contrast variation experiments

In the solvent contrast variation technique, the structure factor is a linear function of contrast, and the intensity is therefore a parabolic function of contrast. A method has been developed which scales together data measured at different contrasts on different samples. Once the data are scaled, structure-factor amplitudes or intensities for any other contrast can be obtained by inter- (or extra-)polation. The magnitude of the relative phase change between contrast, an important piece of phasing information in single-crystal studies, can be determined.