The principle of X-ray diffraction (XRD) is based on the interaction between X-rays and crystalline materials. When a beam of X-rays is directed onto a crystal, the X-rays are scattered by the atoms in the crystal lattice. The scattered X-rays interfere with each other and produce a diffraction pattern that contains information about the crystal structure.
In XRD, a sample is exposed to an intense beam of monochromatic X-rays at different angles, and the resulting diffraction pattern is recorded by a detector. This pattern provides information about the arrangement of atoms in the crystal structure, including unit cell dimensions, atomic positions, and symmetry.
XRD has many applications in various fields such as materials science, chemistry, physics, geology, and biology. It can be used to identify unknown crystalline materials by comparing their diffraction patterns with those of known reference samples. It can also be used for quantitative analysis to determine the concentration of phases present in a sample.
Furthermore, XRD can be used to investigate phase transitions that occur during material synthesis or processing. It can also provide information about crystal defects such as vacancies or dislocations that affect material properties.
In summary, XRD is an analytical technique that uses the interaction between X-rays and crystalline materials to determine their structure and composition. It has broad applications in various scientific fields for identifying unknown materials, quantitative analysis, investigating phase transitions, and studying crystal defects.
