Characterization of polycrystalline materials by X-Ray Diffraction

Since the 1990s, thanks to advances in computing, X-ray diffraction has become increasingly widespread in academic laboratories and industry. The introduction of the first industrial powder diffractometers, combined with the Rietveld method, brought the technique into process control procedures. Synchrotrons have been the driving force behind numerous instrumental developments— [P 2 700] —that we benefit from in the laboratory today.

X-ray diffraction on powders, or more generally on polycrystalline materials, is widely used: it is a non-destructive technique that requires minimal sample preparation and can usually be performed in a non-specific environment (in air, at ambient temperature and pressure).

It is primarily used to identify a wide variety of materials, such as minerals, polymers, metals, cements, semiconductors, ceramics, and pharmaceuticals. It is used in the fields of cultural heritage [P 3 780] , energy [IN 403] , and nanomaterials [K 70] . It also enables:

• to quantify the crystalline or amorphous phases present;

• to identify preferred crystallographic orientations (or texture);

• to describe the morphology—whether isotropic or anisotropic—as well as the size of the crystallites in nanopowders;

• to identify and estimate the proportion of crystalline defects (stacking faults in lamellar materials, dislocation density in metal powders, vacancies, etc.).

It is also possible...