Our lab is equipped with a Rigaku Ultima IV x-ray diffractometer with a copper x-ray source and a scintillation counter detector. The Ultima IV, with Rigaku’s patented Cross Beam Optics (CBO), is a flexible, multi-purpose XRD. It incorporates fully automatic alignment and allows for fast, easy switching between focusing and parallel beam geometries without the need to reconfigure the system. Other features of the Ultima IV at Memorial University are the automatic 10-position sample changer with spinner and the high temperature (1500°C) attachment.

The lab also has a workstation dedicated to data analysis, post acquisition, with licenses for JADE 2010 (pattern processing, identification and quantification) and the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) PDF2 powder diffraction databases.

The XRD was procured through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Newfoundland & Labrador Industrial Trade and Rural Development (IRIF) programs by Dr. John Hanchar.