Principles And Applications Of Powder Diffraction

Powder diffraction is one of the primary techniques used to characterize materials, providing structural information even when the crystallite size is too small for single crystal x-ray diffraction methods. There has been a significant increase in the application of powder diffraction in recent years, both in research and manufacturing, fuelled by improved instrumentation, data processing and awareness of the information that can be obtained. Powder diffraction allows for rapid, non-destructive analysis of multi-component mixtures without the need for extensive sample preparation. This gives laboratories the ability to quickly analyse unknown materials and perform materials characterization in such fields as chemistry, materials science, geology, mineralogy, forensics, archaeology, and the biological and pharmaceutical sciences. This book provides a concise introduction to modern powder diffraction methods with particular emphasis on practical aspects. It covers the background theory of diffraction in a form approachable by those with an undergraduate degree. Whilst individual chapters are written as stand alone sections, the text is sufficiently focused so that it can be read in its entirety by the non-specialist who wants to gain a rapid overview of what they can do with modern powder diffraction methods.

X-ray diffraction is a useful and powerful analysis technique for characterizing crystalline materials commonly employed in MSE, physics, and chemistry. This informative new book describes the principles of X-ray diffraction and its applications to materials characterization. It consists of three parts. The first deals with elementary crystallography and optics, which is essential for understanding the theory of X-ray diffraction discussed in the second section of the book. Part 2 describes how the X-ray diffraction can be applied for characterizing such various forms of materials as thin films, single crystals, and powders. The third section of the book covers applications of X-ray diffraction. The book presents a number of examples to help readers better comprehend the subject. X-Ray Diffraction for Materials Research: From Fundamentals to Applications also • provides background knowledge of diffraction to enable nonspecialists to become familiar with the topics • covers the practical applications as well as the underlying principle of X-ray diffraction • presents appropriate examples with answers to help readers understand the contents more easily • includes thin film characterization by X-ray diffraction with relevant experimental techniques • presents a huge number of elaborately drawn graphics to help illustrate the content The book will help readers (students and researchers in materials science, physics, and chemistry) understand crystallography and crystal structures, interference and diffraction, structural analysis of bulk materials, characterization of thin films, and nondestructive measurement of internal stress and phase transition. Diffraction is an optical phenomenon and thus can be better understood when it is explained with an optical approach, which has been neglected in other books. This book helps to fill that gap, providing information to convey the concept of X-ray diffraction and how it can be applied to the materials analysis. This book will be a valuable reference book for researchers in the field and will work well as a good introductory book of X-ray diffraction for students in materials science, physics, and chemistry.

With contributions by Paul F. Fewster and Christoph Genzel While X-ray diffraction investigation of powders and polycrystalline matter was at the forefront of materials science in the 1960s and 70s, high-tech applications at the beginning of the 21st century are driven by the materials science of thin films. Very much an interdisciplinary field, chemists, biochemists, materials scientists, physicists and engineers all have a common interest in thin films and their manifold uses and applications. Grain size, porosity, density, preferred orientation and other properties are important to know: whether thin films fulfill their intended function depends crucially on their structure and morphology once a chemical composition has been chosen. Although their backgrounds differ greatly, all the involved specialists a profound understanding of how structural properties may be determined in order to perform their respective tasks in search of new and modern materials, coatings and functions. The author undertakes this in-depth introduction to the field of thin film X-ray characterization in a clear and precise manner.

By illustrating a wide range of specific applications in all major industries, this work broadens the coverage of X-ray diffraction beyond basic tenets, research and academic principles. The book serves as a guide to solving problems faced everyday in the laboratory, and offers a review of the current theory and practice of X-ray diffraction, major advances and potential uses.

This is the first book covering the theory, practicalities, and the extensive applications of neutron powder diffraction in materials science, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, and engineering. The broad coverage should be accessible to graduate students and senior undergraduates in science and engineering, as well as lecturers and researchers.

A little over ?ve years have passed since the ?rst edition of this book appeared in print. Seems like an instant but also eternity, especially considering numerous developments in the hardware and software that have made it from the laboratory test beds into the real world of powder diffraction. This prompted a revision, which had to be beyond cosmetic limits. The book was, and remains focused on standard laboratory powder diffractometry. It is still meant to be used as a text for teaching students about the capabilities and limitations of the powder diffraction method. We also hope that it goes beyond a simple text, and therefore, is useful as a reference to practitioners of the technique. The original book had seven long chapters that may have made its use as a text - convenient. So the second edition is broken down into 25 shorter chapters. The ?rst ?fteen are concerned with the fundamentals of powder diffraction, which makes it much more logical, considering a typical 16-week long semester. The last ten ch- ters are concerned with practical examples of structure solution and re?nement, which were preserved from the ?rst edition and expanded by another example – R solving the crystal structure of Tylenol .

Requires no prior knowledge of the subject, but is comprehensive and detailed making it useful for both the novice and experienced user of the powder diffraction method. Useful for any scientific or engineering background, where precise structural information is required. Comprehensively describes the state-of-the-art in structure determination from powder diffraction data both theoretically and practically using multiple examples of varying complexity. Pays particular attention to the utilization of Internet resources, especially the well-tested and freely available computer codes designed for processing of powder diffraction data.