XRD Selection Guide


Which XRD is right for your application?

  • Powder samples: All four XRD instruments are capable of analyzing powders. The most common instrument is the XPert PXRD due to its default Bragg-Brentano measurement geometry, spinning sample holder and powder sample sample preparation accessories.

  • Thin-film Samples: The Rigaku SmartLab is the ideal choice for this due to the availability of parallel beam optics, advanced optics and sample alignment features, high-resolution monochromators and advanced hybrid pixel array detector.

  • Bulk/odd-shaped samples: The XPert PXRD and Rigaku SmartLab have mounting options for odd-shaped samples (e.g. bulk metals, rocks, fibrous meshes/textiles, etc.).

  • Synthetic crystals: Single Crystal XRD is ideal for these samples, which uses a single grain of material to determine the structure through refinement analysis. Our two single-crystal diffractometers are also capable of altering the sample temperature from 80-400K.

    More information will be added to this section. Please contact SMCL_equipment@columbia.edu with further questions about XRD selection.