Principles and Applications of Powder Diffraction

Powder diffraction is one of the primary techniques used tocharacterize materials, providing structural information even whenthe crystallite size is too small for single crystal x-raydiffraction methods.

There has been a significant increase in the application of powderdiffraction in recent years, both in research and manufacturing,fuelled by improved instrumentation, data processing and awarenessof the information that can be obtained. Powder diffraction allowsfor rapid, non-destructive analysis of multi-component mixtureswithout the need for extensive sample preparation. This giveslaboratories the ability to quickly analyse unknown materials andperform materials characterization in such fields as chemistry,materials science, geology, mineralogy, forensics, archaeology, andthe biological and pharmaceutical sciences.

This book provides a concise introduction to modern powderdiffraction methods with particular emphasis on practical aspects.It covers the background theory of diffraction in a formapproachable by those with an undergraduate degree. Whilstindividual chapters are written as stand alone sections, the textis sufficiently focused so that it can be read in its entirety bythe non-specialist who wants to gain a rapid overview of what theycan do with modern powder diffraction methods.