Methods of chemical preparation and crystallographic data are reported for four new condensed phosphates: one hydrated cyclotriphosphate MnAg4(P3O9)2·6H2O and three long-chain polyphosphates: MnAg2(PO3)4, NiAg4(PO3)6 and NiNa4(PO3)6. Two of these new condensed phosphates, associated with manganese, belong to previously investigated structure types.

The structure of BaSrR4O8 (where R=La, Nd, Sm, Gd, Eu, Dy, Ho, Y, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) has been investigated, and the X-ray reference patterns of these compounds have been prepared using the Rietveld refinement technique. BaSrR2O4 are isostructural to BaR2O4, which have the CaFe2O4 structure type (orthorhombic, Pnam). The cell parameters of these compounds (R=Lu to La) range from 10.125 04(10) to 10.5501(8) Å for a, 3.362 49(3) to 3.692 04(24) Å for b, 11.846 91(13) to 12.5663(9) Å for c, and 403.33 to 489.47 Å3 for V, respectively. There is a linear relationship between V and the Shannon ionic radius of R. Unlike the BaR2O4 compositions (R=Tm, Lu, and Yb), which produced a mixture of Ba3R4O9 and unreacted lanthanide oxides, single-phase BaSrTm4O8, BaSrLu4O8, and BaSrYb4O8 were successfully prepared.

A lattice metric singularity occurs when unit cells defining two (or more) lattices yield the identical set of unique calculated d-spacings. The existence of such singularities, therefore, has a practical impact on the indexing of powder patterns. Lattice metric singularities often involve lattices that are in a derivative relationship one to another. A variety of types of singularities are possible depending on the number of different lattices involved (i.e., binary, ternary, quaternary), on the nature of the derivative lattice relationship (i.e., subcell/supercell, composite), on the Bravais type of each of the lattices, and on the the volume ratio(s) of primitive cells defining the lattices. In the laboratory, an encounter with a singularity can lead one into a trap; viz., the investigator using an indexing program, or by other means, may determine only one of the lattices with a high figure of merit. When this happens, it is critical to recognize that there exists more than one indexing solution. In a previous work, a binary singularity was described involving a monoclinic and a rhombohedral lattice. In the present work, we describe a second type of singularity—a ternary singularity—in which the two of the three lattices are in a derivative composite relationship.

Retained austenite is an important characteristic of properly heat-treated steel components, particularly gears and shafts, that will be subjected to long-term use and wear. Normally, either X-ray diffraction or optical microscopy techniques are used to determine the volume percent of retained austenite present in steel components subjected to specific heat-treatment regimes. As described in the literature, a number of phenomenological, experimental, and calculation factors can influence the volume fraction of retained austenite determined from X-ray diffraction measurements. However, recent disagreement between metallurgical properties, microscopy, and service laboratory values for retained austenite led to a re-evaluation of possible reasons for the apparent discrepancies. Broad, distorted X-ray peaks from un-tempered martensite were found to yield unreliable integrated intensities whereas diffraction peaks from tempered samples were more amenable to profile fitting with standard shape functions, yielding reliable integrated intensities. Retained austenite values calculated from reliable integrated intensities were found to be consistent with values obtained by Rietveld refinement of the diffraction patterns. The experimental conditions used by service laboratories combined with a poor choice of diffraction peaks were found to be sources of retained austenite values containing significant bias.

A qualitative phase identification system for crystalline mixtures is presented. The system provides up to five-phase qualitative identification using up to nine-peak filtration, and additive full peak matching based on the powder diffraction file of ICDD. It was implemented using Microsoft Visual C++, and runs under most common Windows systems. Screenshots and examples are included.

The crystal structures of marialite (Me6) from Badakhshan, Afghanistan and meionite (Me93) from Mt. Vesuvius, Italy were obtained using synchrotron high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction (HRPXRD) data and Rietveld structure refinements. Their structures were refined in space groups I4/m and P42/n, and similar results were obtained. The Me6 sample has a formula Ca0.24Na3.37K0.24[Al3.16Si8.84O24]Cl0.84(CO3)0.15, and its unit-cell parameters are a=12.047555(7), c=7.563210(6) Å, and V=1097.751(1) Å3. The average ⟨T1-O⟩ distances are 1.599(1) Å in I4/m and 1.600(2) Å in P42/n, indicating that the T1 site contains only Si atoms. In P42/n, the average distances of ⟨T2-O⟩=1.655(2) and ⟨T3-O⟩=1.664(2) Å are distinct and are not equal to each other. However, the mean ⟨T2,3-O⟩=1.659(2) Å in P42/n and is identical to the ⟨T2′-O⟩=1.659(1) Å in I4/m. The ⟨M-O⟩ [7]=2.754(1) Å (M site is coordinated to seven framework O atoms) and M-A=2.914(1) Å; these distances are identical in both space groups. The Me93 sample has a formula of Na0.29Ca3.76[Al5.54Si6.46O24]Cl0.05(SO4)0.02(CO3)0.93, and its unit-cell parameters are a=12.19882(1), c=7.576954(8) Å, and V=1127.535(2) Å3. A similar examination of the Me93 sample also shows that both space groups give similar results; however, the C–O distance is more reasonable in P42/n than in I4/m. Refining the scapolite structure near Me0 or Me100 in I4/m forces the T2 and T3 sites (both with multiplicity 8 in P42/n) to be equivalent and form the T2′ site (with multiplicity 16 in I4/m), but ⟨T2-O⟩ is not equal to ⟨T3-O⟩ in P42/n. Using different space groups for different regions across the series implies phase transitions, which do not occur in the scapolite series.

Polycrystalline AgIn3Te5 synthesized by melt-quench technique has been analyzed using proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and selected area electron diffraction. PIXE analysis yielded the content of Ag, In, and Te, respectively, to be 9.76%, 31.18%, and 59.05% by weight. Structure refinement was carried out considering those space groups from I- and P-type tetragonal systems which possess 4 symmetry and preserve the anion sublattice arrangement of the chalcopyrite structure (space group: I42d) as well. The results showed that AgIn3Te5 synthesized by melt-quench method crystallizes with P-type tetragonal structure (space group: P42c; unit-cell parameters a = 6.2443(8) and c = 12.5058(4) Å), the presence of which was corroborated by selected area electron diffraction studies.

We reported the surface morphology and electrical property of super-thin Pt films, ∼2 nm thick, deposited on 6H-SiC (0001) substrates and subsequently annealed from 400 to 1000 °C. The surfaces of the films were found to have a feature of islands growth, and the sizes of the islands increased with increasing annealing temperature. Free carbon, produced by selective reactions between Pt and SiC, diffused toward the top surface across the product layers due to low solubility and composition gradient of carbon throughout the reaction zone. A dramatic change of electrical conductivity of the films was observed. A mechanism analysis reveals that the origin came from the contribution of aggregation of islands on the surface and formation of Pt silicides and a thin layer of crystalline graphite.

The structures of SmAlSi and SmAlGe were determined by the powder diffraction method. These compounds have a tetragonal structure of LaPtSi type, which is a ternary substitutional variant of α-ThSi2. Both prototype structures have the same extinction rules, and as a result, the choice of the structural type must be based on very careful examination of the peak intensities. This was done with the aid of a Rietveld refinement, which indicates a better fit of the LaPtSi structure.

Order-disorder transformations were studied in annealed and high-energy ball-milled near-equiatomic FeCo alloys. X-ray diffraction with Co Kα radiation enables to follow disordering with milling time because of anomalous dispersion.

The structure of a new iodate, (LiFe1/3)(IO3)2, has been determined. The new compound has a hexagonal structure with the lattice parameters a=5.4632(2) Å, c=5.0895(6) Å, Z=1. The density is 4.70 g cm−3. Rietveld refinement confirms that the compound has a space group of P63 (173). Fe and Li atoms randomly distribute on the 2a cation site.

A nonlinear optical material, N-(p-methoxy benzoyl)-N′(o-methyl phenyl) thiourea (C16H16N2O2S), has been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction. Experimental values of 2θ corrected for systematic errors, relative peak intensities, values of d, and the Miller indices of 90 observed reflections with 2θ up to 88° are reported. The powder diffraction data have been evaluated, and the figures-of-merit are reported. The least-squares refined unit cell parameters are a=26.7079(3) Å, b=6.7995(9) Å, c=19.2845(1) Å, β=121.39(4), V=2989.42(3) Å3, Z=8, Dx=1.334(8) g/cm3, space group P2(3).

Three phosphates, MIBaIn2(PO4)3 with MI=Na, K, Cs, isostructural to the langbeinite structure, have been studied from powder diffraction data collected with monochromatic radiation obtained from a conventional X-ray source. Precise powder data are reported, as well as cell parameters, i.e., a=10.026 08(9) Å, a=10.121 57(13) Å and a=10.226 94(9) Å for MI=Na, K and Cs, respectively. A Rietveld refinement has been carried out (space group P213), with final RF factors, 0.061, 0.041 and 0.027, and Rwp factors, 0.196, 0.142 and 0.129, for MI=Na, K and Cs, respectively. There are two octahedrally coordinated In3+ ions in the asymmetric unit and the final refinements suggest disorder on the two sites of the MI/Ba sublattice.

The phases developed upon annealing of ZnSe, CdSe, and CdS semiconductors in air are investigated applying X-ray qualitative and quantitative phase analysis. The compositions of the thermally grown oxides over the 373–773 K temperature range are found to be ZnO and ZnSeO3 for ZnSe, CdSeO3 for CdSe and CdSO4 and Cd3O2SO4 for CdS. The percentage phase abundance of each phase is determined at each temperature applying a standardless method. At all temperatures, the oxides are predominantly ZnO with about 10% ZnSeO3 at 773 K in case of ZnSe and CdSO4 with about 9% Cd3O2SO4 at 773 K in case of CdS. The rate of oxidation with temperature is found to be nonlinear for the three chalcogenides. CdS is found to be more resistible for oxidation than CdSe and ZnSe.

ZnGa2Te4 was found to crystallize in a defect tetrahedral structure with possible space group I4(82) with Z=2. Complete X-ray powder diffraction data were obtained and the unit cell parameters a and c and X-ray density were calculated. These were a=0.5930(1) nm, c=1.1859(3) nm, and Dx=5.7×103 kg/m3.

Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) data were collected for La0.65Sr0.35MnO3 prepared through an alternative method from a stoichiometric mixture of Mn2O3, La2O3, and SrO2, fired at 1300 °C for 16 h. XRD analysis using the Rietveld method was carried out and it was found that manganite has rhombohedral symmetry (space group R3c). The lattice parameters are found to be a=5.5032 Å and c=13.3674 Å. The bond valence computation indicates that the initial inclusion of Sr occurs at higher temperature.

A new zinc phosphate was synthesized by the hydrothermal reaction of zinc oxide and phosphoric acid in the presence of 1,4-diaminebutane. The formula of the product is (ZnPO4)4(H3PO4)2(C4N2H14)2 and crystallizes in the triclinic system with a=8.6590(3) Å, b=10.3467(3) Å, c=8.3910(3) Å, α=102.180(2)°, β=93.676(2)°, and γ=88.203(2)°.

X-ray powder diffraction data for Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3−δ are reported. The powder was prepared using a metal-EDTA complexing method. The XRD data could be fitted with a primitive cubic unit cell in space group Pm3m (No. 221). The Rietveld refined unit cell parameter is ac=0.398 30(3) nm with Z=1 and Dx=5.75 g/cm3.