Premium
An improved low‐power‐consumption heating stage for X‐ray powder diffraction
Author(s) -
Valdrè Giovanni
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889899000990
Subject(s) - diffractometer , materials science , diffraction , powder diffractometer , characterization (materials science) , stage (stratigraphy) , x ray , radiation , inert , composite material , nuclear engineering , optics , nanotechnology , chemistry , scanning electron microscope , geology , physics , paleontology , organic chemistry , engineering
An improved low‐power‐consumption easy‐to‐operate simple heating stage for use in connection with an X‐ray powder diffractometer is described and discussed. No modification is required to the conventional specimen chamber, which can be used safely up to a specimen temperature of at least 1200 K with a temperature accuracy of a few degrees. The stage is interchangeable with conventional specimen holders, without the need for realignment of the diffractometer. To prevent specimen oxidation, provisions are made for heating in an inert gaseous environment. Also, care has been taken to prevent scattered radiation escaping from the specimen chamber. The stage allows the study of structural transformations with temperature and so far it has been used successfully for the characterization of very different materials, such as hyaloclastite, smectites, montmorillonites and chlorocadmates with perovskite‐like structures. Although the device has been designed for the Philips PW1820 X‐ray diffractometer, it can be applied to other types of X‐ray diffractometer.