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Bruker XRD D2 Phaser Powder X-Ray Diffractometer

A powder can be seen as a mixture of many differing small crystal structures. The powder X-ray diffractometer analyses the pattern of diffracted X-rays of all crystal apparent in the sample. By comparison with a database, the sample and its morphology can be identified. Furthermore, the analysis of individual components of a mixture is equally possible. The sample material will neither be destroyed nor used up during the measurement.

Facts List

Measured Parameter

X-ray intensity at given angle

Detection Method

X-ray diffraction («XRD»)

Range

10° to 60° 2θ (Theta)

Application

Determine and analyse polymorphism
Purity assessment
Recognition of strain in crystalline structure

Materials

Powder, salts, rocks, ceramics, glasses

Usually, the sample is a polymorphic solid. With other words, it is a solid consisting of many domains with different orientation of the crystalline structure and/or domains with differing crystal structures (Fig. 1). The X-ray hits an atom and is being diffracted at the angle θ from the lattice plane (“Bragg reflection”). The diffracted rays interfere with themselves, which may result in amplification or attenuation or even extinction of the rays. The detector measures the reflected X-rays as a function of the angle of incidence. A characteristic signal pattern is recorded, which is typical for each crystalline phase (“fingerprint”). Matching the obtained graph with the database enables the identification of the crystalline phase and thus can even be used for the analysis and identification of a powder mixture.

CCTES Analyticlab XRD

Fig. 1
Schematic depiction of the signal acquisition. X-rays irradiate the domains at a certain angle and are being diffracted at the lattice planes.
© 2021 Bruker; with added elements.

Analyticlab Bruker XRD

© 2021 Bruker

CCTES Analyticlab XRD

Fig. 2
Example of data acquired with the D2 PHASER. This method also makes discerning different fractions in a sample possible.
© 2022 HSLU-T&A (Analytics lab)