X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a powerful nondestructive characterization technique for determining the structure, phase, composition, and strain in materials. It is one of the most frequently employed methods for characterizing materials.
This book distinguishes itself from other books on this topic by its simplified treatment and its coverage of thin-film analysis. It largely minimizes the mathematics and is profusely illustrated, making it a good entry point for learning the basic principles of XRD. The common thin-film structures (random polycrystalline, textured) and their relationships with the substrate (strain, in-plane rotation) are defined and explained. This makes it valuable to researchers who study thin-film deposition. The book includes example problems to reinforce the concepts covered, plus problems that can be assigned as homework.
The background physics is presented first. Chapter 1 covers the properties of electromagnetic radiation, including wave-particle duality and the generation of x-rays. Chapter 2 describes crystal geometry, explaining the concept of a lattice and how Miller indices are assigned to planes and directions, reciprocal lattices, and crystal structures. The scope of this treatment is above that found in introductory materials science and engineering textbooks. The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with materials is discussed in chapter 3, including interference and diffraction. Many of these topics will be familiar to those who have taken college physics, but here they are described with an emphasis on their importance to XRD.
After establishing the basic physics, the book describes the conditions required for XRD to occur in chapter 4. Bragg’s Law and the Laue equations are presented and explained. Electron diffraction and the Scherrer equation for estimating nanoparticle size are discussed. In chapter 5, the main factors controlling the intensity of diffracted x-rays are delineated. These include scattering by electrons and atoms and the specific arrangement of atoms, the material’s unit cell.
Specific applications of XRD are covered in chapter 6 (thin films), chapter 7 (single crystals), and chapter 8 (powder diffraction). Rocking curves for assessing thin-film quality as well as grazing incidence XRD for enhancing the signal from the surface and diminishing signal from the substrate are introduced. The Laue method for determining the orientation of single crystals is described in detail. The procedure for identifying phases present and lattice constant values is recounted.
This book is a highly accessible introduction to XRD for materials research. It is written in concise and clear prose. The text creates a cohesive picture of XRD. After finishing this book, researchers will be able to understand the basics of many materials science and engineering research papers.
Reviewer: J.H. Edgar of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University, USA.
