Powder X-Ray Diffraction (1 out of 2)

Powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) allows the determination of crystallographic density and hence crystal structure of unknown crystalline solids. X-rays are diffracted by atoms in a plane and a spherical wave is radiated. If there are two or more such scattering centres, the spherical waves at specific angles reinforce one another (constructive interference) and at other angles cancel one another (destructive interference). A crystal with planes oriented at an angle θ to an incident x-ray beam of wavelength λ