Fast charged particles like protons, deuterons or He⁺ ions show preferential penetration through crystals when the direction of incidence is almost parallel to the prominent planes or axes of the lattice. The reverse effect of this channelling is shadowing when the centres of emission of the fast charged particles are the atoms of the crystal themselves. These methods are, for example, used in studies of surface structures, lattice defects, orientation, thermal vibrations, atomic displacements, and concentration profiles (Feldman, Mayer & Picraux, 1982). Ion beams are also applied in special analytical methods like Rutherford backscattering (RBS), inelastic scattering, proton-induced X-ray analysis (PIX), etc.

These elementary particles are used in crystallography mainly in studies of lattice defects (vacancies, interstitials, and impurity atoms) for the determination of their concentration, location, and diffusion by means of the techniques such as positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) and muon spin resonance (μSR) – see, for example, Siegel (1980) and Gyax, Kündig & Meier (1979). The positron implantation range in a solid is  100 μm from the positron sources usually used (e.g. ²²Na, ⁶⁴Cu, ⁵⁸Co); these sources yield positrons with end-point energies of 1 MeV. The PAS techniques are based on lifetime, Doppler broadening or angular correlation measurements of γ-rays emitted by the decaying nucleus of the radioactive source and those resulting from the positron–electron annihilation process. Muon sources require intense primary medium-energy proton beams. The positive muon μ⁺ has charge +e, spin 1/2, mass 105.659 MeV/c² and a magnetic moment equal to 1.001 of the muon–magneton units. With a mean lifetime of 2.197 μs, the muon decays into a positron (e⁺) and two neutrinos and ). The correlation between the direction of the emitted positron and the spin direction of the muon allows one to measure the spin precession frequency and/or the decay of the muon polarization of an ensemble of muons implanted in a solid.

Visible light is one of the oldest tools used by crystallographers for macroscopic symmetry determination, for orientation of crystals, and in metallographic microscopes for phase analysis. Infrared and Raman spectroscopy are highly complementary methods in the infrared and visible range of wavelengths, respectively. The information content available with the two techniques is determined by molecular symmetry and polarity. This information is utilized for the identification of molecules or structural groups [symmetric vibrations and nonpolar groups are most easily studied by Raman scattering, antisymmetric vibrations and polar groups by infrared scattering (Grasselli, Snavely & Bulkin, 1980)]. The valence states or the bonds of surface atoms and the local structure in the immediate neighbourhood of the chosen atoms can be studied by ultraviolet radiation in the energy range 10–50 eV by means of angle-resolved photoelectron emission (Plummer & Eberhardt, 1982).

Electromagnetic waves of frequencies 10⁶–10¹⁰ Hz are used in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments for studies of interatomic bonds, local atomic configurations, ordering, and relative population of atomic sites as well as for the determination of orientational features of magnetic structures (Kaufmann & Shenoy, 1981).