# Diffractometer

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Measuring instrument used to study the structure of a material using subatomic particles

A **diffractometer** is a [measuring instrument](/source/Measuring_instrument) for analyzing the structure of a material from the [scattering](/source/Scattering) pattern produced when a beam of [radiation](/source/Radiation) or particles (such as [X-rays](/source/X-ray) or [neutrons](/source/Neutron)) interacts with it.[1]

## Principle

The detector end of a simple x-ray diffractometer with an area detector. The direction of the X-rays is indicated with the red arrow.

A typical diffractometer consists of a source of radiation, a [monochromator](/source/Monochromator) to choose the wavelength, slits to adjust the shape of the beam, a sample and a [detector](/source/Detector). In a more complicated apparatus, a [goniometer](/source/Goniometer) can also be used for fine adjustment of the sample and the detector positions. When an area detector is used to monitor the diffracted radiation, a beamstop is usually needed to stop the intense primary beam that has not been diffracted by the sample, otherwise the detector might be damaged. Usually the beamstop can be completely impenetrable to the X-rays or it may be semitransparent. The use of a semitransparent beamstop allows the possibility to determine how much the sample [absorbs](/source/Absorption_(electromagnetic_radiation)) the radiation using the [intensity](/source/Intensity_(physics)) observed through the beamstop.

There are several types of X-ray diffractometer, depending on the research field (material sciences, powder diffraction, life sciences, structural biology, etc.) and the experimental environment, if it is a laboratory with its home X-ray source or a [Synchrotron](/source/Synchrotron). In laboratory, diffractometers are usually an "all in one" equipment, including the diffractometer, the video microscope and the X-ray source. Plenty of companies manufacture "all in one" equipment for X-ray home laboratory, such as [Rigaku](/source/Rigaku), [Malvern Panalytical](/source/Malvern_Panalytical), [Thermo Fisher Scientific](/source/Thermo_Fisher_Scientific), [Bruker](/source/Bruker), [Anton Paar](/source/Anton_Paar) and many others.

There are fewer diffractometer manufacturers for [synchrotrons](/source/Synchrotron), owing to few numbers of x-ray beamlines to equip and the need of solid expertise of the manufacturer. For material sciences, Huber diffractometers are widely known and, for structural biology, [Arinax](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arinax&action=edit&redlink=1) diffractometers are the reference. Nonetheless, due to few numbers of manufacturers, a large amount of [synchrotron](/source/Synchrotron) diffractometers are "homemade" diffractometers, realized by synchrotron engineering teams.

## Uses

X-ray diffractometer instruments can be used for a variety of purposes including imaging crystal structures, phase determination, and identifying unfamiliar substances for use in crystallography, inspection, and pharmaceutical research for drug efficacy.[2] A novel use of x-ray diffraction involves studying the surface of Mars to determine if it ever supported life.[3]

## See also

- [Crystallography](/source/Crystallography)

- [International Centre for Diffraction Data](/source/International_Centre_for_Diffraction_Data)

- [Neutron diffraction](/source/Neutron_diffraction)

- [Spallation Neutron Source](/source/Spallation_Neutron_Source)

- [X-ray crystallography](/source/X-ray_crystallography)

- [X-ray diffraction](/source/X-ray_diffraction)

- [Synchrotron](/source/Synchrotron)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Stanjek, H.; Häusler, W. (2004-06-01). "Basics of X-ray Diffraction". *Hyperfine Interactions*. **154** (1): 107–119. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2004HyInt.154..107S](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004HyInt.154..107S). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1023/B:HYPE.0000032028.60546.38](https://doi.org/10.1023%2FB%3AHYPE.0000032028.60546.38). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1572-9540](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1572-9540). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [94993637](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:94993637).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD Instruments) | Labcompare.com"](https://www.labcompare.com/Spectroscopy/178-X-Ray-Diffractometer-XRD-Instruments/#:~:text=X-Ray%20Diffraction%20(XRD),of%20the%20X-Ray%20beam). *www.labcompare.com*. Retrieved 2021-05-02.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Turner, Stuart Matthew Robert (2017-03-09). [*Novel X-ray Diffraction and the Remote Analysis of Mars*](https://leicester.figshare.com/articles/thesis/Novel_X-ray_Diffraction_and_the_Remote_Analysis_of_Mars/10220447/1) (Thesis). University of Leicester.

v t e Crystallography Key concepts Timeline of crystallography Crystallographers Metallurgy Biocrystallography Structure Unit cell Bravais lattice Miller index Point group Reciprocal lattice Restriction theorem Periodic table Structure prediction Systems Cubic Hexagonal Monoclinic Orthorhombic Tetragonal Triclinic Growth Crystallite Equiaxed Twinning Fiveling Aperiodic crystal Quasicrystal Phase transition Phase diagram Eutectic Miscibility gap Polymorphism Liquid crystal Phase transformation crystallography Precipitation Segregation Spinodal decomposition Supersaturation GP-zone Ostwald ripening Defects Grain boundary Disclination CSL Growth Abnormal growth Perfect crystal Stacking fault Dislocation Burgers vector Partial dislocation Kink Cross slip Frank–Read source Cottrell atmosphere Peierls stress GND Lomer–Cottrell junction Slip Slip bands Interstitials Bjerrum defect Frenkel defect Wigner effect Vacancy Schottky defect F-center Stone–Wales defect Defects in diamond Laws Bragg's law Friedel's law Steno's law (constancy of interfacial angles) Law of rational indices Law of symmetry Bragg plane Ewald's sphere Hermann–Mauguin notation Structure factor Thermal ellipsoid Characterisation Electron Diffraction Scattering Neutron Diffraction Scattering Nuclear magnetic resonance X-ray Diffraction Scattering Algorithms Direct methods Isomorphous replacement Molecular replacement Molecular dynamics Patterson map Phase retrieval Gerchberg–Saxton Single particle analysis Software CCP4 Coot CrystalExplorer DSR JANA2020 MTEX OctaDist Olex2 SHELX Databases Bilbao Crystallographic Server CCDC CIF COD ICSD ICDD PDB Journals Crystal Growth & Design Crystallography Reviews Journal of Chemical Crystallography Journal of Crystal Growth Kristallografija Zeitschrift für Kristallographie – Crystalline Materials Zeitschrift für Kristallographie – New Crystal Structures Awards Carl Hermann Medal Ewald Prize Gregori Aminoff Prize History Timeline of crystallography History of crystallography before X-rays Chemical Geometrical Physical Organisation IUCr IOBCr RAS DMG Associations Europe France Germany UK US Japan Category Commons

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