A quantum diffractor has an essentially quantum character. It was first conceived of in 1923 by William Duane, in the days of the old quantum theory, to account for diffraction of X-rays as particles according to Einstein's new conception of them, as carriers of quanta of momentum. The diffractor was imagined as exhibiting quantum transfer of translational momentum, in close analogy with transfer of angular momentum in integer multiples of the Planck constant. The quantum of translational momentum was proposed to be explained by global quantum physical properties of the diffractor arising from its spatial periodicity. This is consonant with present-day quantum mechanical thinking, in which macroscopic physical bodies are conceived as supporting collective modes, manifest for example in quantized quasi-particles, such as phonons. Formally, the diffractor belongs to the quantum system, not to the classical laboratory apparatus.