TABLE OF CONTENTS X-rays are very short wavelength electromagnetic waves. Their range encompasses the interatomic distances in crystalline materials, typically 0.5 to 2.5 , which permit the analysis of crystalline and to a lesser degree amorphous materials by X-ray diffraction (XRD). When atoms are irradiated with radiation of sufficient energy, they emit characteristic X-ray spectra, fluorescence, which are analysed in X-ray fluorescent analysis (XRF) to give element analysis. Individual electrons are emitted from an irradiated surface with energies related to the electron levels in the atom. The energies of these electrons are analysed in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to provide an elemental analysis of surface atoms together with information on the chemical bonding between them.
This chapter reviews the applications of XRD to the investigation of metallic materials. The subject is well covered in detail in several standard textbooks including 'X-ray Metallography' by A. Taylor;1 'Structure of Metals' by C. S. Barrett and T. B. Massalski;2 'X-ray Diffraction Procedures' by H. P. Klug and L. E. Alexander.3 'Elements of X-ray Crystallography' by L. V Azaroff,4 'Structure Determination by X-ray Crystallography' by M. F. C. Ladd and R. A. Palmer,5 'An Introduction to X-ray Crystallography' by M. M. Woolfson,6 'Elements of X-ray Diffraction' by B. D. Cullity and S. R. Stock,7 and 'The Basics of Crystallography and Diffraction' by C. Hammond.8
Chapter 5 discusses crystallography and crystal structure data can be found in Chapter 6.
X-rays are produced (excited) when an electron experiences a sudden...
