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The X-ray diffraction laboratory includes a Scintag Pad V diffractometer / goniometer with Scintillation detector, Datascan software (Materials Data, Inc.) for diffractometer automation and data collection, and Jade Software (Versions 8, 7.5 and 6.5, also from MDI) accessing the complete IDCC Powder diffraction file (PDF-2 or PDF-4) database for data analysis and interpretation.
The laboratory is open to all University personnel who are interested in obtaining power-diffraction data for their samples. The laboratory can be used for powder samples (rock, clay minerals, experimental materials) and (to some extent) thin film samples. User requirements for lab use are on another page. We do not have the capability to do single-crystal work in our laboratory.
The X-Ray Diffraction Laboatory. Scintag PadV Gonniometer/Diffractometer on left, computer used for diffractometer operations and data collection near the center, and computer used for data analysis and data printing on right. Photo taken in 2004. Lab now has newer computers and printer than those shown here.
Though not currently operational, we have two vintage Phillips X-Ray generators which may be used with Debye-Scherrer film-based powder cameras for obtaining diffraction data from very small amounts of powder. These instruments will probably be removed from the lab sometime in late 2007.
Before use of the laboratory is permitted, all users must demonstrate familiarity with basic radiation safety procedures, be trained in the use of the equipment, and make arrangements to pay for their use of the laboratory. Please read Requirements for Users of the X-ray Diffraction Laboratory for details of how to be certified for laboratory use.
Only qualified persons (faculty, staff, students) affiliated with the University of New Mexico are permitted to use the laboratory. Laboratory personnel can do work for outside users (i.e., other Universities, government agencies and private corporations) on a contract basis; if you are in this group and are interested in having XRD work done, please contact the Lab Manager, Jim Connolly, by Email (connolly@unm.edu).
We ask that all users of the laboratory give credit for their use of the laboratory in published papers if they present or refer to data acquired in the lab. A suggested wording for that credit (which also includes data collection and analysis parameters usually required when publishing results) is given below. The wording may be modified as necessary for different operating conditions used:
Powdered samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) in the XRD Laboratory in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico, using a Scintag Pad V diffractometer with DataScan 4 software (from MDI, Inc.) for system automation and data collection. Cu-K-alpha radiation (40 kV, 35 mA) was used with a Bicron Scintillation detector (with a pyrolitic graphite curved crystal monochromator). Data were analyzed with Jade Software (from MDI, Inc.) using the ICDD (International Center for Diffraction Data) PDF4 database (rev. 2006) for phase identification.
Please allow the lab manager to review the XRD citation in your papers before they are submitted for publication to assure that XRD parameters are described accurately.
Our Scintag Pad V system was originally purchased in 1984. For many years, Scintag operated as a small, independent developer of XRD equipment with a reputation for excellence in both technology and service. In the 1990s, they were purchased several times, each time becoming part of a larger corporation and moving farther from their roots. They are now part of ThermoARL (a multi-national corporate giant) who makes one powder XRD unit in Switzerland (that almost nobody buys because other manufacturers make much better equipment). In 2004 they officially announced that they would no longer support the PAD V system.
This system is still a workhorse and by upgrading peripherals (like operating software, HV power supply, etc.), having our local electronics wiz Bob Macy available and keeping a good supply of spare electronic parts around, we hope to keep it alive for many years to come.
The Scintag (Rich Seifert) goniometer shown in the 10 degree 2-theta sample exchange position. XRD tube housing on left is fixed. In a coupled scan, the sample holder (center) rotates at 1/2 the rate of the detector (right). The detector is a Bicron scintillation counter with a detector-side graphite monochromator located next to the detector (where the array appears to bend). Boxes on the deck to the left of the tube housing hold a variety of collimating slits for limiting the width of the incident and diffracted X-ray beam.
Our current system uses the original diffractometer (goniometer and detector electronics) and housing, but everything else is different from what was delivered in 1984. The current (as of Fall, 2007) incarnation of our Scintag Pad V Diffractometer includes the following hardware and software:
Updated September 7, 2007. Please send comment about (and suggested additions to) this page to connolly@unm.edu.
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