Introduction to

Powder X-ray Diffraction

Instrumentation & Analysis
Special Thanks to (Slides copied from):
Dr. Chris Allen – DeNora Tech. (formerly NUCRET)
Dr. Akhilesh Triparthi – Rigaku America
Dr. Scott Speakman – MIT
Dr. Peter Moeck – Portland State Univ.
 What is Diffraction?
• Traditionally, diffraction refers to the splitting of
polychromatic light into separate wavelengths

**Using a diffraction grating with well-defined ridges

or “gratings” to separate the photons
• XRD uses:
monochromatic light source X-ray Diffraction
so the incident beam isn’t split
into component wavelengths –
there’s only 1 wavelength to No grating,
begin with. Just powder sample
Unknown:
• Instead, for XRD we don’t “grating length”
know the spacing distance of
the diffraction gratings

• XRD can only be used for

samples with periodic Crystal planes
structure (crystals) Are the
Diffraction
Grating
• The crystal lattice planes act as
diffraction gratings
Mono-chromatic
X-rays
(i.e. fixed λ)

Changes in
source & detector position
create changes in X-ray
Path Length
Other Types of XRD
• More-complex, multi-angle
goniometers are used to study
protein crystal structure
 XRD & Nanomaterials
• Aside from identification of crystal phase
– (i.e. “fingerprinting” like MS for molecular samples)

• XRD can identify crystallite size & strain

• Size & Strain affect physical properties such as:

– Band-gap for semi-conductors
– Magnetic properties of magnetic materials

• Strain effects can determine the “degree of alloying”

– i.e. quantitative composition of eutectic mixtures of solids
For most common XRD source: Cu K α X-ray λ = 1.541 Å
This is X-ray path-length difference
 X-ray Powder Diffraction Particle size
and defects

Peak shapes

Peak relative
intensities

Background Atomic
Peak distribution in
positions the unit cell
10 20 30 40
2

Unit cell Diffuse scattering,

c Symmetry sample holder,
and size matrix, amorphous
b phases, etc...
a
*Rhombohedral also called “trigonal”
 (002) & (004):
Same
Miller index
“family”

i.e. likely preferred orientation

Rotating Anode XRD instruments
produce more X-rays
For higher resolution spectra
Xrd photo
Rigaku Ultima IV w/
Bragg-Brentano geometry

DS SS RS
 θ- θ mode
DS Xrd SS
photo
Rigaku Ultima IV w/
Bragg-Brentano geometry

DS SS RS
 BB vs. PB
Bragg-Brentano method Parallel beam method
XG
XG DS Detector
SS PSA
Mirror Detector
RS

Sample Sample

Cause of Flat sample

systematic errors Sample absorption Axial divergence
Sample displacement
Axial divergence
Calibration Internal (preferred) External
Intensity High Medium
Good for Identification of trace phases Identification of sample with
curvature/rough surface
Structure refinement
In-situ measurements
37
Bragg cones in powder diffraction
 Anatomy of diffraction pattern
- Sample -
Peak positions
d values > Phase ID
Lattice parameter Intensity (i.e. structure
d shift > Residual stress FWHM factors)
Solid solution Crystal quality
Crystallite size
Lattice distortion
Integrated Int.
of amorphous
Intensity

Crystallinity
Integrated Int.
of crystal
> Qualitative analysis

Scattering Angle [deg.]

44
 Anatomy of diffraction pattern
- Instrument -

Peak positions Intensity vs. Orientation

Wavelength FWHM Preferred orientation
Systematic errors Instrument function

Integrated Intensity
Intensity

X-ray source
Detector

Scattering Angle [deg.]

45
 Extracting information
Peak property used
in analysis

• Phase Identification All

• Indexing, Lattice Parameter Position

• Crystallite Size, Lattice Distortion Width

• Quantitative Analysis, Crystallinity, Intensity

Structure Refinement (Rietveld
Analysis)

48
 Different levels of “analysis”
Peak list
d(A) I%
3.8472 5 ICDD ?
3.4768 20
3.0296 100
2.8395 2 Search identical diffraction
2.5489 31
patterns in the database
Intensity

Diffraction angle -> lattice parameter

Intensity -> quantitative analysis
2
Width -> crystallite size, lattice distortion

Rietveld analysis
Refinement of the structure, quantity,
atomic positions, by using whole
pattern fitting
Structure Solution
49
 Phase identification
Diffraction patterns are “fingerprints” of materials.

ICDD= 115,000 reference patterns

Search/Match!

I Sample A

I Sample A+B
2

I Sample B
2

2

50
 Rietveld method
•Hugo Rietveld (1960’s)- uncovered that a

Intensity
modeled pattern could be fit to experimental
data if instrumental and specimen features are
subtracted.

•Structural Refinement, not structure solution!!!!

2

•Good starting model is a must, since many bragg reflections will

exist at any chosen point of intensity (yi)

wi-=1/yi

S y   wi ( y i  y ci ) 2 yi= intensity at each step i

Minimize the residual-
yci= calculated intensity
i
at each step i.
 Rietveld method
•Hugo Rietveld (1960’s)- uncovered that a

Intensity
modeled pattern could be fit to experimental
data if instrumental and specimen features are
subtracted.

•Structural Refinement, not structure solution!!!!

2

•Good starting model is a must, since many bragg reflections will

exist at any chosen point of intensity (yi)

wi-=1/yi

S y   wi ( yi  yci ) 2 yi= intensity at each step i

Minimize the residual-
yci= calculated intensity
i
at each step i.
 What factors contribute to your calculated intensity (yci)??
y ci  s  LK ( FK ) 2  (2 i  2 K ) PK A  y bi
K
s- scale factor ( quantitative phase analysis)

LK- Lorentz, polarization, and multiplicity factors (2theta dependent intensities)

FK- structure factor for K bragg reflection

φ= approximates instrumental and specimen features

Instrument
Peak shape asymmetry

Sample
displacement
Transparency
Specimen caused broadening

PK- preferred orientation (orientation of certain crystal faces parallel to sample holder)
A- sample absorption
Ybi= operator selected points to construct background
 Rietveld method

Icalc = Ibck + S Shkl Chkl () F2hkl () Phkl()

Miller
background
Scale Profile
Structure
factor function
Corrections factor

particle size, stress-

Structure strain, texture
Symmetry
Atomic positions, +
Experimental site occupancy Experimental
Geometry set- & thermal factors resolution
up
 Rietveld Applications
• Crystal structure determination

•Lattice constants- Don’t forget Lebail method!

•1st devised iterative solution of “Fobs”
•http://www.cristal.org/iniref/lbm-story/index.html

•Quantitatve phase analysis (up to 9 phases using GSAS)

•Engineering applications
-Residual Stress
-Preferred orientation
 Variables involved in the fit
• Similar to single crystal but experimental
effects must also be included now
» Background
» Peak shape
» Systematic errors (e.g. axial divergence, sample
displacement)

• Sample dependent terms

» Phase fractions (scale factor)
» Structural parameters (atomic positions, thermal
variables)
» Lattice constants
 Helpful resources for XRD, software & tutorials.

Argonne National Laboratory

www.aps.anl.gov/Xray_Science_Division/Powder_Diffraction_Crystallography/

-GSAS, Expgui/ free downloads + tutorials

-XRD course (Professor Cora Lind)

“The Rietveld Method” R.A. Young (1995)

 Diffraction with Grazing Incidence
 Usually in the case of “thin” films (1 nm~1000 nm) using routine wide
angle X-ray scattering (WAXS, θ/θ mode of data collection) we observe:
 Weak signals from the film
 Intense signals from the substrate

 To avoid intense signal from the substrate and get stronger signal from
the film we can alternatively perform:
Thin film scan (2θ scan with fixed grazing angle of incidence, θ): GIXRD
1. Generally the lower the grazing angle the shallower is the
penetration of the beam is

59
 Thin film scan (2θ scan with fixed θ)

“Thin film scan” (2 scan with fixed )

Normal of diffracting lattice planes

 = incidence angle
Detector


Thin film 2

Substrate

60
 Example:
Comparing GIXRD with symmetric scan

Amorphous hump from GIXRD, Grazing angle = 0.5o

substrate glass

PSA 0.5 deg

Symmetric, /2 scan

61
 MIT Center for Materials Science and Engineering

Estimating Crystallite Size

Using XRD

Scott A Speakman, Ph.D.

13-4009A
[email protected]

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
 A Brief History of XRD

• 1895- Röntgen publishes the discovery of X-rays

• 1912- Laue observes diffraction of X-rays from a crystal

• when did Scherrer use X-rays to estimate the

crystallite size of nanophase materials?

Scherrer published on the use of XRD to estimate crystallite size in 1918,

a mere 6 years after the first X-ray diffraction pattern was ever observed.
Remember– nanophase science is not quite as new or novel as we like to think.

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 The Scherrer Equation was published in 1918

K
B(2 ) 
L cos
• Peak width (B) is inversely proportional to crystallite size (L)

• P. Scherrer, “Bestimmung der Grösse und der inneren Struktur von

Kolloidteilchen mittels Röntgenstrahlen,” Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen 26
(1918) pp 98-100.

• J.I. Langford and A.J.C. Wilson, “Scherrer after Sixty Years: A Survey and
Some New Results in the Determination of Crystallite Size,” J. Appl. Cryst.
11 (1978) pp 102-113.

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Which of these diffraction patterns comes from a
nanocrystalline material?

Intensity (a.u.)

66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74

2 (deg.)
• These diffraction patterns were produced from the exact same sample
• Two different diffractometers, with different optical configurations, were used
• The apparent peak broadening is due solely to the instrumentation

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 Many factors may contribute to
the observed peak profile
• Instrumental Peak Profile
• Crystallite Size
• Microstrain
– Non-uniform Lattice Distortions
– Faulting
– Dislocations
– Antiphase Domain Boundaries
– Grain Surface Relaxation
• Solid Solution Inhomogeneity
• Temperature Factors

• The peak profile is a convolution of the profiles from all of

these contributions

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 Instrument and Sample Contributions to the Peak
Profile must be Deconvoluted

• In order to analyze crystallite size, we must deconvolute:

– Instrumental Broadening FW(I)
• also referred to as the Instrumental Profile, Instrumental
FWHM Curve, Instrumental Peak Profile
– Specimen Broadening FW(S)
• also referred to as the Sample Profile, Specimen Profile

• We must then separate the different contributions to

specimen broadening
– Crystallite size and microstrain broadening of diffraction peaks

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 Contributions to Peak Profile

1. Peak broadening due to crystallite size

2. Peak broadening due to the instrumental profile
3. Which instrument to use for nanophase analysis
4. Peak broadening due to microstrain
• the different types of microstrain
• Peak broadening due to solid solution inhomogeneity
and due to temperature factors

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 Crystallite Size Broadening
K
B(2 ) 
L cos
• Peak Width due to crystallite size varies inversely with crystallite
size
– as the crystallite size gets smaller, the peak gets broader
• The peak width varies with 2 as cos 
– The crystallite size broadening is most pronounced at large angles
2Theta
• However, the instrumental profile width and microstrain
broadening are also largest at large angles 2theta
• peak intensity is usually weakest at larger angles 2theta
– If using a single peak, often get better results from using diffraction
peaks between 30 and 50 deg 2theta
• below 30deg 2theta, peak asymmetry compromises profile
analysis

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 The Scherrer Constant, K
K 0.94
B(2 )  B(2 ) 
L cos L cos
• The constant of proportionality, K (the Scherrer constant)
depends on the how the width is determined, the shape of the
crystal, and the size distribution
– the most common values for K are:
• 0.94 for FWHM of spherical crystals with cubic symmetry
• 0.89 for integral breadth of spherical crystals w/ cubic symmetry
• 1, because 0.94 and 0.89 both round up to 1
– K actually varies from 0.62 to 2.08
• For an excellent discussion of K, refer to JI Langford and AJC
Wilson, “Scherrer after sixty years: A survey and some new
results in the determination of crystallite size,” J. Appl. Cryst. 11
(1978) p102-113.

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 Factors that affect K and crystallite size analysis

• how the peak width is defined

• how crystallite size is defined
• the shape of the crystal
• the size distribution

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 Methods used in Jade to Define Peak Width
• Full Width at Half Maximum
(FWHM)
FWHM
– the width of the diffraction peak,

Intensity (a.u.)
in radians, at a height half-way
between background and the
peak maximum

• Integral Breadth
– the total area under the peak
46.7 46.8 46.9 47.0 47.1 47.2 47.3 47.4 47.5 47.6 47.7 47.8 47.9
divided by the peak height 2 (deg.)
– the width of a rectangle having
the same area and the same
height as the peak
Intensity (a.u.)
– requires very careful evaluation
of the tails of the peak and the
background
46.7 46.8 46.9 47.0 47.1 47.2 47.3 47.4 47.5 47.6 47.7 47.8 47.9
2 (deg.)

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 Integral Breadth

 (2 ) 
L cos
• Warren suggests that the Stokes and Wilson method of
using integral breadths gives an evaluation that is
independent of the distribution in size and shape
– L is a volume average of the crystal thickness in the direction
normal to the reflecting planes
– The Scherrer constant K can be assumed to be 1

• Langford and Wilson suggest that even when using the integral
breadth, there is a Scherrer constant K that varies with the shape of
the crystallites

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 Other methods used to determine peak width

• These methods are used in more the variance methods, such as

Warren-Averbach analysis
– Most often used for dislocation and defect density analysis of metals
– Can also be used to determine the crystallite size distribution
– Requires no overlap between neighboring diffraction peaks

• Variance-slope
– the slope of the variance of the line profile as a function of the range of
integration

• Variance-intercept
– negative initial slope of the Fourier transform of the normalized line
profile

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 How is Crystallite Size Defined

• Usually taken as the cube root of the volume of a crystallite

– assumes that all crystallites have the same size and shape
• For a distribution of sizes, the mean size can be defined as
– the mean value of the cube roots of the individual crystallite volumes
– the cube root of the mean value of the volumes of the individual
crystallites

• Scherrer method (using FWHM) gives the ratio of the root-mean-

fourth-power to the root-mean-square value of the thickness
• Stokes and Wilson method (using integral breadth) determines the
volume average of the thickness of the crystallites measured
perpendicular to the reflecting plane
• The variance methods give the ratio of the total volume of the
crystallites to the total area of their projection on a plane parallel to
the reflecting planes

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 Remember, Crystallite Size is Different than
Particle Size

• A particle may be made up of several different

crystallites
• Crystallite size often matches grain size, but there are
exceptions

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 Crystallite Shape

• Though the shape of crystallites is usually irregular, we can often

approximate them as:
– sphere, cube, tetrahedra, or octahedra
– parallelepipeds such as needles or plates
– prisms or cylinders
• Most applications of Scherrer analysis assume spherical crystallite
shapes
• If we know the average crystallite shape from another analysis, we
can select the proper value for the Scherrer constant K

• Anistropic peak shapes can be identified by anistropic peak

broadening
– if the dimensions of a crystallite are 2x * 2y * 200z, then (h00) and (0k0)
peaks will be more broadened then (00l) peaks.

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 Anistropic Size Broadening
• The broadening of a single diffraction peak is the product of the
crystallite dimensions in the direction perpendicular to the planes
that produced the diffraction peak.

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 Crystallite Size Distribution

• is the crystallite size narrowly or broadly distributed?

• is the crystallite size unimodal?

• XRD is poorly designed to facilitate the analysis of crystallites with a

broad or multimodal size distribution

• Variance methods, such as Warren-Averbach, can be used to

quantify a unimodal size distribution
– Otherwise, we try to accommodate the size distribution in the Scherrer
constant
– Using integral breadth instead of FWHM may reduce the effect of
crystallite size distribution on the Scherrer constant K and therefore the
crystallite size analysis

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 Instrumental Peak Profile
• A large crystallite size, defect-free powder
specimen will still produce diffraction
peaks with a finite width
• The peak widths from the instrument peak

Intensity (a.u.)
profile are a convolution of:
– X-ray Source Profile
• Wavelength widths of Ka1 and Ka2
lines
• Size of the X-ray source
• Superposition of Ka1 and Ka2 peaks
– Goniometer Optics 47.0 47.2 47.4 47.6 47.8
2 (deg.)
• Divergence and Receiving Slit widths
Patterns collected from the same
• Imperfect focusing
sample with different instruments
• Beam size and configurations at MIT
• Penetration into the sample

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 What Instrument to Use?

• The instrumental profile determines the upper limit of crystallite

size that can be evaluated
– if the Instrumental peak width is much larger than the broadening
due to crystallite size, then we cannot accurately determine
crystallite size
– For analyzing larger nanocrystallites, it is important to use the
instrument with the smallest instrumental peak width

• Very small nanocrystallites produce weak signals

– the specimen broadening will be significantly larger than the
instrumental broadening
– the signal:noise ratio is more important than the instrumental
profile

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 Comparison of Peak Widths at 47° 2 for
Instruments and Crystallite Sizes
Configuration FWHM Pk Ht to
(deg) Bkg
Ratio Crystallite FWHM
Rigaku, LHS, 0.5° DS, 0.3mm RS 0.076 528 Size (deg)

Rigaku, LHS, 1° DS, 0.3mm RS 0.097 293 100 nm 0.099

Rigaku, RHS, 0.5° DS, 0.3mm RS 0.124 339 50 nm 0.182
Rigaku, RHS, 1° DS, 0.3mm RS 0.139 266 10 nm 0.871
X’Pert Pro, High-speed, 0.25° DS 0.060 81 5 nm 1.745
X’Pert Pro, High-speed, 0.5° DS 0.077 72
X’Pert, 0.09° Parallel Beam Collimator 0.175 50
X’Pert, 0.27° Parallel Beam Collimator 0.194 55
• Rigaku XRPD is better for very small nanocrystallites, <80 nm (upper limit 100 nm)
• PANalytical X’Pert Pro is better for larger nanocrystallites, <150 nm

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 Other Instrumental Considerations
for Thin Films
• The irradiated area greatly affects the intensity of
high angle diffraction peaks
– GIXD or variable divergence slits on the
PANalytical X’Pert Pro will maintain a constant
irradiated area, increasing the signal for high angle
diffraction peaks
– both methods increase the instrumental FWHM

• Bragg-Brentano geometry only probes crystallite

dimensions through the thickness of the film
– in order to probe lateral (in-plane) crystallite sizes,
need to collect diffraction patterns at different tilts
– this requires the use of parallel-beam optics on the
PANalytical X’Pert Pro, which have very large
FWHM and poor signal:noise ratios

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 Microstrain Broadening

• lattice strains from displacements of the unit cells about their

normal positions
• often produced by dislocations, domain boundaries, surfaces etc.
• microstrains are very common in nanocrystalline materials
• the peak broadening due to microstrain will vary as:

sin 
B(2 )  4
cos

K
compare to peak broadening due to crystallite size: B(2 ) 
L cos

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 Contributions to Microstrain Broadening

• Non-uniform Lattice Distortions

• Dislocations
• Antiphase Domain Boundaries
• Grain Surface Relaxation

• Other contributions to broadening

– faulting
– solid solution inhomogeneity
– temperature factors

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 Non-Uniform Lattice Distortions

• Rather than a single d-spacing,

the crystallographic plane has a
distribution of d-spaces
• This produces a broader
observed diffraction peak
• Such distortions can be
introduced by:
– surface tension of nanocrystals

Intensity (a.u.)
– morphology of crystal shape, such
as nanotubes
– interstitial impurities

26.5 27.0 27.5 28.0 28.5 29.0 29.5 30.0

2(deg.)
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 Antiphase Domain Boundaries
• Formed during the ordering of a material that goes
through an order-disorder transformation
• The fundamental peaks are not affected
• the superstructure peaks are broadened
– the broadening of superstructure peaks varies with hkl

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 Dislocations

• Line broadening due to dislocations has a strong hkl

dependence
• The profile is Lorentzian
• Can try to analyze by separating the Lorentzian and
Gaussian components of the peak profile
• Can also determine using the Warren-Averbach method
– measure several orders of a peak
• 001, 002, 003, 004, …
• 110, 220, 330, 440, …
– The Fourier coefficient of the sample broadening will contain
• an order independent term due to size broadening
• an order dependent term due to strain
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 Faulting

• Broadening due to deformation faulting and twin faulting

will convolute with the particle size Fourier coefficient
– The particle size coefficient determined by Warren-Averbach
analysis actually contains contributions from the crystallite size
and faulting
– the fault contribution is hkl dependent, while the size contribution
should be hkl independent (assuming isotropic crystallite shape)
– the faulting contribution varies as a function of hkl dependent on
the crystal structure of the material (fcc vs bcc vs hcp)
– See Warren, 1969, for methods to separate the contributions
from deformation and twin faulting

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 Solid Solution Inhomogeneity

• Variation in the composition of a solid solution can create

a distribution of d-spacing for a crystallographic plane
– Similar to the d-spacing distribution created from microstrain due
to non-uniform lattice distortions

ZrO2
CeO2 46nm
19 nm
CexZr1-xO2
Intensity (a.u.)

0<x<1

45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52
2 (deg.)
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 Temperature Factor
• The Debye-Waller temperature factor describes the oscillation of an
atom around its average position in the crystal structure
• The thermal agitation results in intensity from the peak maxima being
redistributed into the peak tails
– it does not broaden the FWHM of the diffraction peak, but it does broaden
the integral breadth of the diffraction peak
• The temperature factor increases with 2Theta
• The temperature factor must be convoluted with the structure factor for
each peak
– different atoms in the crystal may have different temperature factors
– each peak contains a different contribution from the atoms in the crystal

2
 X / 3 
F  f exp ( M ) M  2 
2


 d 
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 Determining the Sample Broadening due to
crystallite size
• The sample profile FW(S) can be deconvoluted from the
instrumental profile FW(I) either numerically or by Fourier transform
• In Jade size and strain analysis
– you individually profile fit every diffraction peak
– deconvolute FW(I) from the peak profile functions to isolate FW(S)
– execute analyses on the peak profile functions rather than on the raw
data
• Jade can also use iterative folding to deconvolute FW(I) from the
entire observed diffraction pattern
– this produces an entire diffraction pattern without an instrumental
contribution to peak widths
– this does not require fitting of individual diffraction peaks
– folding increases the noise in the observed diffraction pattern
• Warren Averbach analyses operate on the Fourier transform of the
diffraction peak
– take Fourier transform of peak profile functions or of raw data

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 Instrumental FWHM Calibration Curve

• The instrument itself contributes to the peak profile

• Before profile fitting the nanocrystalline phase(s) of
interest
– profile fit a calibration standard to determine the
instrumental profile

• Important factors for producing a calibration curve

– Use the exact same instrumental conditions
• same optical configuration of diffractometer
• same sample preparation geometry
• calibration curve should cover the 2theta range of interest for
the specimen diffraction pattern
– do not extrapolate the calibration curve

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 Instrumental FWHM Calibration Curve

• Standard should share characteristics with the nanocrystalline

specimen
– similar mass absorption coefficient
– similar atomic weight
– similar packing density
• The standard should not contribute to the diffraction peak profile
– macrocrystalline: crystallite size larger than 500 nm
– particle size less than 10 microns
– defect and strain free
• There are several calibration techniques
– Internal Standard
– External Standard of same composition
– External Standard of different composition

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 Internal Standard Method for Calibration

• Mix a standard in with your nanocrystalline specimen

• a NIST certified standard is preferred
– use a standard with similar mass absorption coefficient
– NIST 640c Si
– NIST 660a LaB6
– NIST 674b CeO2
– NIST 675 Mica
• standard should have few, and preferably no,
overlapping peaks with the specimen
– overlapping peaks will greatly compromise accuracy of analysis

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 Internal Standard Method for Calibration

• Advantages:
– know that standard and specimen patterns were collected under
identical circumstances for both instrumental conditions and
sample preparation conditions
– the linear absorption coefficient of the mixture is the same for
standard and specimen
• Disadvantages:
– difficult to avoid overlapping peaks between standard and
broadened peaks from very nanocrystalline materials
– the specimen is contaminated
– only works with a powder specimen

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 External Standard Method for Calibration

• If internal calibration is not an option, then use external

calibration
• Run calibration standard separately from specimen,
keeping as many parameters identical as is possible

• The best external standard is a macrocrystalline

specimen of the same phase as your nanocrystalline
specimen
– How can you be sure that macrocrystalline specimen does not
contribute to peak broadening?

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Qualifying your Macrocrystalline Standard

• select powder for your potential macrocrystalline standard

– if not already done, possibly anneal it to allow crystallites to grow and to
allow defects to heal
• use internal calibration to validate that macrocrystalline specimen is
an appropriate standard
– mix macrocrystalline standard with appropriate NIST SRM
– compare FWHM curves for macrocrystalline specimen and NIST
standard
– if the macrocrystalline FWHM curve is similar to that from the NIST
standard, than the macrocrystalline specimen is suitable
– collect the XRD pattern from pure sample of you macrocrystalline
specimen
• do not use the FHWM curve from the mixture with the NIST SRM

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Disadvantages/Advantages of External Calibration with a
Standard of the Same Composition

• Advantages:
– will produce better calibration curve because mass absorption
coefficient, density, molecular weight are the same as your specimen of
interest
– can duplicate a mixture in your nanocrystalline specimen
– might be able to make a macrocrystalline standard for thin film samples
• Disadvantages:
– time consuming
– desire a different calibration standard for every different nanocrystalline
phase and mixture
– macrocrystalline standard may be hard/impossible to produce
– calibration curve will not compensate for discrepancies in instrumental
conditions or sample preparation conditions between the standard and
the specimen

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 External Standard Method of Calibration using a
NIST standard

• As a last resort, use an external standard of a

composition that is different than your nanocrystalline
specimen
– This is actually the most common method used
– Also the least accurate method
• Use a certified NIST standard to produce instrumental
FWHM calibration curve

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Advantages and Disadvantages of using NIST
standard for External Calibration
• Advantages
– only need to build one calibration curve for each instrumental
configuration
– I have NIST standard diffraction patterns for each instrument and
configuration available for download from
http://prism.mit.edu/xray/standards.htm
– know that the standard is high quality if from NIST
– neither standard nor specimen are contaminated
• Disadvantages
– The standard may behave significantly different in diffractometer than
your specimen
• different mass absorption coefficient
• different depth of penetration of X-rays
– NIST standards are expensive
– cannot duplicate exact conditions for thin films

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
Consider- when is good calibration most essential?

Broadening Due to
Nanocrystalline Size

Crystallite Size B(2) FWHM

FWHM of Instrumental Profile (rad) (deg)
at 48° 2 100 nm 0.0015 0.099

0.061 deg 50 nm 0.0029 0.182

10 nm 0.0145 0.871
5 nm 0.0291 1.745
• For a very small crystallite size, the specimen broadening dominates
over instrumental broadening
• Only need the most exacting calibration when the specimen broadening
is small because the specimen is not highly nanocrystalline

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Williamson Hall Plot
K 
FW (S ) cos( )   4  Strain  sin ( )
Size
y-intercept slope

*Fit Size/Strain: XS(Å) = 33 (1), Strain(%) = 0.805 (0.0343), ESD of Fit = 0.00902, LC = 0.751
4.244
FW(S)*Cos(Theta)

0.000
0.000 0.784
Sin(Theta)
http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Manipulating Options in the
Size-Strain Plot of Jade
7 1 2 3 4
1. Select Mode of
Analysis
• Fit Size/Strain
• Fit Size
• Fit Strain
2. Select Instrument
Profile Curve
3. Show Origin
4. Deconvolution
Parameter
5. Results
6. Residuals for
Evaluation of Fit
7. Export or Save 5 6

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Analysis Mode: Fit Size Only
K 
FW (S ) cos( )   4  Strain  sin ( )
Size
slope= 0= strain
*Fit Size Only: XS(Å) = 26 (1), Strain(%) = 0.0, ESD of Fit = 0.00788, LC = 0.751
4.244
FW(S)*Cos(Theta)

0.000
0.000 0.784
Sin(Theta)
http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Analysis Mode: Fit Strain Only
K 
FW (S ) cos( )   4  Strain  sin ( )
Size
y-intercept= 0
size= ∞
*Fit Strain Only: XS(Å) = 0, Strain(%) = 3.556 (0.0112), ESD of Fit = 0.03018, LC = 0.751

4.244
FW(S)*Cos(Theta)

0.000
0.000 0.784
Sin(Theta)
http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Analysis Mode: Fit Size/Strain

K 
FW (S ) cos( )   4  Strain  sin ( )
Size

*Fit Size/Strain: XS(Å) = 33 (1), Strain(%) = 0.805 (0.0343), ESD of Fit = 0.00902, LC = 0.751
4.244
FW(S)*Cos(Theta)

0.000
0.000 0.784
Sin(Theta)

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering
 Comparing Results

Integral Breadth FWHM

Size (A) Strain (%) ESD of Size(A) Strain(%) ESD of

Fit Fit
Size 22(1) - 0.0111 25(1) 0.0082
Only
Strain - 4.03(1) 0.0351 3.56(1) 0.0301
Only
Size & 28(1) 0.935(35) 0.0125 32(1) 0.799(35) 0.0092
Strain
Avg from 22.5 25.1
Scherrer
Analysis

http://prism.mit.edu/xray
Center for Materials Science and Engineering