The X-Ray Diffraction and Crystallography Services
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X-Ray diffraction is a very powerful tool used for the non-destructive
characterization of materials and in particular of industrial
solids. Essentially, the technique involves the acquisition of a
pattern of reflected x-rays from a sample. This pattern arises
due to the crystallographic arrangement assumed by atoms constituting
the solid being examined. Consequently, the crystal structure and
the orientation of the solid material can be readily established. This
information can be used to established the existence of undesirable
polymorphic forms which can change the physical properties of an
industrial solid, such as solubility, hardness, bioactivity and
friability. Professor Antonio Martinez, Ph.D., of the Physics Department, manage the X-Ray Diffraction facility. Dr. Victor Pantojas, also a physicist, is the facility's specialist. State-of-the-art powder, thin film and surface x-ray characterization may be performed on the facility's x-ray diffractometry instrumentation. The D5000 diffraction system, from Bruker, is particulary suited for power diffraction measurements. Powder x-ray diffractometry aids in the identification of compounds and yields crystallographic phase information which cannot be determined through chemical analysis techniques. This is an important feature, since the chemical activity of many synthetic products is directly related to phase. Accesories to the D5000 system includes a temperature stage, which allows for temperature dependent phase study in the range 30oC to 450oC, a particularly helpful capability to ellucidate possible phase changes in powders during thermal industrial processes. The System also features a reflectometry stage, which is used to characterize multilayered thin films. The software used allows for data processing and patterns match / search using standard x-ray data libraries. Available techniques includes: Powder diffractometry for compound identification; high resolution thin film diffractometry; reflectometry for multilayered thin film structure characterization and strain /stress texture studies. |
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Last modified
2009-10-19 19:46
SERMACS 2009
