X-ray diffraction

X-ray DiffractionX-ray diffraction (XRD) is an analytical method based on inspection of the crystalline structure of samples used in applications, such as metallurgy, mineralogy, powders, pigments, polymers, surface layers, and strain mapping. The traditional X-ray diffraction uses monochromatic X-rays which make the apparatus large and slow. ADVACAM’s spectral detectors based on Timepix3 chip with high resolution make the diffraction system fast and compact. The sample analysis can be performed 100 times faster compared to the conventional systems. Due to the fast speed of the analysis large areas of the sample can be analyzed by scanning.

Polychromatic X-ray diffraction

The polychromatic X-ray beam (instead of monochromatic) can be used with ADVACAM’s energy dispersive detectors. Polychromatic X-ray diffraction system is compact and less complex than the one with monochromatic X-ray that requires mechanically moving parts. The high-resolution spectral detector can be placed close to the sample covering a large solid angle.

The high intensity of the polychromatic X-ray beam enables a high speed of data accumulation. Broad energy range from 3 to 150 keV can be covered with the polychromatic X-ray tube. The high X-ray energies allow transmission and diffraction study of highly absorbing samples, such as stainless steel, heavy metals, and minerals. The X-ray diffraction at high energies has only been possible with large synchrotron accelerators so far. ADVACAM’s spectral detectors enable users to perform synchrotron measurements at their desks.

The example on the right shows a polychromatic diffraction image of silicon powder using a standard and spectral detector AdvaPIX TPX3. The standard detector mixes all the energies and the image is useless in identifying diffractograms in a stationary diffraction setup. The spectral detector is able to observe the rings clearly and identify multiple diffractograms. By recalculating and summing the diffractograms (1 keV energy intervals) one is able to visualize the lattice constant of the material shown on the right for the Si powder.




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