Overview

X-ray Diffraction is an analytical technique that uses an inherent property of the x ray beam i e the wavelength and the laws of physics, that determine how that beam interacts with matter, to characterize materials Crystalline materials are characterized by the long range orderly periodic arrangements of atoms The technique is applied primarily to determine crystal structures, identify phase composition, measure stress, preferred orientation and crystallinity Bragg’s law calculates the angle where constructive interference from X rays scattered by parallel planes of atoms will produce a diffraction peak Only a small fraction of the crystallites in the specimen actually contribute to the measured diffraction pattern

Main Applications

• Inorganic phase analysis on powder even on very small sample quantities. Analysis of polymorphs. Samples can be run in reflection or transmission.
• Measuring of the thickness of poly-crystalline thin layers and interpretation of the roughness at the layer interface
• Crystallographic measurements, thin-film thickness measurement
• Determination of crystal parameters by diffraction of X-rays