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Special Powder
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Specialized techniques are available for non-standard powder diffraction studies.  Utilizing the Low Temperature and High Temperature devices, materials can be investigated at temperatures ranging from 20 to 1300 Kelvin.  The Pole Figure attachment permits the determination of preferred orientation in a powder or powder-like material.  The Thin Film attachment enables the collection of data from thin film deposits while minimizing the contributions to the diffraction by the substrate.

Capabilities

Low Temperature Device

A Helium cryostat is used for cooling samples for study in the range of 20K to 250K.  The sample must reside in rough vacuum to attain the lowest temperatures.

High Temperature Device

A radiative enclosed furnace provides temperatures in the range of 300K to 1300K.  The furnace can be run in rough or partial vacuum as well as in a wide variety of gas environments up to atmospheric pressure.  The device may also be used as a gas flow furnace up to approximately 1100K.

Pole Figure Attachment

Preferred orientations of powders or powder-like materials, such as drawn or worked metals, can be determined using this device.  This is commonly used to examine metal foils or or other materials whose microcrystals have a tendency to orient anisotropically.  This tool has also been used to examine orientations of thin film deposits when the scattering from the film is sufficiently strong.

Thin Film Attachment

When it is necessary to maximize the scattering from a thin film and minimize the contribution to the scattering from the substrate, this device is chosen.  The sample is oriented such that the surface is held at a glancing angle relative to the incident X-ray beam.  The sample may also be continuously rotated about the surface normal during data collection to collect a pseudo random orientation pattern from the film.

 

Send mail to tgroy@asu.edu with questions or comments about this web site.