The performances of Seeman-Bohlin (S-B) and Bragg-Brentano (B-B) diffractometers with flat thin film samples were compared on the basis of equal instrumental aberrations. It was found that the S-B arrangement has only a marginal advantage as regards diffracted intensity, and that both types of diffractometer may be successfully employed for characterization of thin films. Diffraction data obtained with very thin metallic films (down to 30 Å) are included for illustration. In order to eliminate reflections from the singlecrystal substrate in the B-B diffractometer, sample tilting was employed. Provided the tilting angle remains within 0.5°, sample tilting causes only moderate additional broadening of the thin film peaks.

Recent developments in the Rietveld method for the analysis of powder diffraction data have seen the method evolve from its original purpose of crystal structure refinement to include the determination of phase abundance in polycrystalline mixtures and the estimation of crystal size and strain parameters. However, the Rietveld method is not easy to use and may deter many powder diffractionists, who are not interested in structure refinement per se, from using the method in its non-structural applications.

In order to overcome the difficulties in using the Rietveld method, a program, QPDA (for Quantitative Powder Diffraction Analysis), has been written that sets the conditions necessary for a single or multi-phase refinement, runs the Rietveld program and extracts phase abundance and size/strain information from the refined parameters. The program comprises a user-friendly, default-driven system of subroutines, written initially in VAX Fortran, and operates from a database of inorganic materials frequently encountered in a wide range of minerals and materials science industries.

Powder diffraction data for 2-aminophenalenone at 295 K (P21/n, Z=4) are given, strong lines: 7.54/X, 7.26/9, 3.34/3. The cell parameters found are a=3.7213(3), b=16.550(2), c=15.095(2) Å, β=92.61(2)°. The crystal structure was determined using powder data and refined giving Rb=0.089. Disordered molecules form stacks along [100] with interplanar spacing of 3.48 Å.

The structures of two high-pressure tungsten oxides, previously studied by high-resolution electron microscopy, were confirmed by Rietveld refinement based on X-ray powder diffraction data. The phases have identical stoichiometry, W3O8, and extremely narrow 00l reflections in common. The microstructure of the dominant phase was investigated by means of X-ray powder diffraction pattern decomposition. A Williamson–Hall plot revealed that all lines, except the 00l reflections, were broadened solely due to the crystallite size effect. A cylindrical model is used to describe the average form of the coherently diffracting domains. The height of the cylinder, whose axis is colinear with the crystallographic c parameter of both phases, is considered “infinite,” and the average diameter of the cylinder model is 655(22) Å. A quantitative confirmation is obtained from electron microscopy.

Introduction: Phase transition has been recently observed in Cs2CdI4 (Touchard, Louër, Auffrédic & Louër, 1986). Thermal analysis has shown that the transformation occurs at 122°C. By quenching, the high temperature phase (β) can be stabilized at room temperature. In the present work we report the X-ray diffraction powder data, at room temperature, for the two phases α- and β-Cs2CdI4. Both phases have been indexed automatically by using powder indexing methods.

Calculated patterns for the BaR2PdO5 series, in which X is Pd and R=Nd, Sm, Eu, or Gd, have been prepared for materials characterization until experimental patterns can be determined. These compounds are isostructural to the superconductor related “brown phases” BaLa2CuO5 and BaNd2CuO5, which are tetragonal with space group P4/mbm, Z=4. The cell parameters of the Eu and Gd compounds were derived from the La and Nd analogs. The calculated patterns of these four compounds compared well to an experimental pattern of BaNd2CuO5.

X-ray powder data are given for cobalt tris-ethylenediamine bromide trihydrate, [Co(en)3]Br3·3H2O, and cobalt tris-ethylenediamine iodide hemihydrate, [Co(en)3]I3·0.5H2O. Refined unit-cell parameters for [Co(en)3]Br3·3H2O are a=11.6949(4) Å and c=16.0640(12) Å in trigonal space group P3¯c1(165) or P3c1(158); volume =1902.72 Å3; figures of merit: M20=29, F30=55 (0.0138, 40). Refined unit-cell parameters for [Co(en)3]I3·0.5H2O are a=23.3580(14) Å, b=13.4739(4) Å, and c=11.5421(5) Å in orthorhombic space group Pca21(29) or Pcam(57); volume =3632.57 Å3; figures of merit: M20=37, F30=81 (0.0058, 64).

Schlippe's salt (sodium thioantimonate nonahydrate—Na3SbS4·9H2O) has been investigated by means of X-ray powder diffraction at room temperature. The indexed X-ray powder diffraction data are presented.

p-nitrophenol, C6H5NO3, and disophenol, C6H3I2NO3, have been investigated by means of X-ray powder diffraction. The unit cell dimensions were determined from diffractometer methods, using monochromatic CuKα1 radiation, and evaluated by indexing programs. The monoclinic cell found for p-nitrophenol was a=6.159(2) Å, b=8.890(2) Å, c=11.770(2) Å, β=103.04(2)°, Z=4, space group P21 or P2l/m, Dx=1.469 Mg/m3. The monoclinic cell found for disophenol has the dimensions a=8.886(1) Å, b=14.088(2) Å, c=8.521(1) Å, β=91.11(1)°, Z=4, space group P2, P2, Pm or P2/m, Dx=2.438 Mg/m3.

X-ray powder diffraction is a convenient tool for monitoring changes in structural parameters due to modifications in sample composition and processing conditions. Due to the complexity of incommensurate modulated structures powder diffraction techniques have not been commonly applied. Programs ALSQ and QRIET have been produced to perform lattice parameter and structure refinements on incommensurate modulated materials with a displacive modulation model. In applying these programs to the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 superconductor which has this type of structure, it is shown that a decrease in the lattice parameters and an increase in the modulation vector occurs as the Ca content of the Bi-2212 phase, controlled by the use of the glass ceramic process, increases.

Indexed powder patterns are reported for three homogeneous metastable ZrO2-CeO2 solid solution members with high-zirconia [(ZrO2)x mole fraction, x>.84 –.80] and lowzirconia (.60>x>.40) compositions. The primitive cell dimensions are: a = 3.6377(7) Å and c = 5.2394(11) Å at x = 0.84, and a = 3.7205(5) Å and c = 5.3039(7) Å at x = 0.5. Samples with intermediate compositions are heterogeneous. Also reported are powder data for the cubic (fluorite-structure) solution from a sample with x = 0.40 and a slightly different thermal history.