Sensing odors is an extremely important ability humans have as living organisms. This ability is required for humans to maintain appropriate eating behavior and to protect themselves from imminent danger. The term “odor” includes naturally occurring odors from food and flowers, and artificial odors from synthetic essences, as well as...
In our previous report, we introduced the concept of GI-XRD (grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction) with a 2-dimensional (2D) detector for thin film samples. However, it seems we have not fully explained how well a 2D-SAXS/WAXS (reflection) attachment works in GI-XRD with a 2D detector.
In a crystal, atoms or molecules are arranged in a three-dimensional, repetitive pattern, and the properties of the crystal are determined by the chemical composition of the constituent atoms or molecules. The typical image of a crystal is a grain of a single crystal such as salt or alum, but...
Cement is one of the most essential materials in modern construction. In this article, the term “cement” means Portland cement, which is typically a grayish powder to be solidified by a hydration reaction. Portland cement comprises most of the total cement production.
The cement manufacturing process is composed of three...
As a handy and quick elemental analysis technique, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry is widely used in many industrial fields. It should be noted that energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDX) spectrometers provide opportunities for miniaturization, because their system configuration does not require a dispersive element or goniometer. In addition, because of their...
Total reflection of X-rays occurs on the surface of a measured object by X-ray irradiation at an extremely low glancing angle (less than 0.1°). X-rays penetrate into a measuring object to a depth of only several (≈10) nm. Therefore, elements on the surface of the sample carrier are excited efficiently...
Recently, products development, failure analysis of electronic devices and quality control requirements has increased demand for X-ray CT 3D image viewing analysis. Powerful CPUs and GPUs have greatly improved computer processing throughput for this technique.
Rigaku has been contributing to the fields of drug discovery and development, preclinical testing, and...
The discovery of graphite and its industrial use dates back to the 16th century, more than 200 years before the first industrial revolution, which took place from the middle of the 18th to the 19th century. The first industrial use of graphite was as pencil lead and fire-retardant materials. It...
Since the earliest experiments, X-ray crystallographers became accustomed to directly observing reciprocal space. Initial experiments were performed using area detectors with photographic film as the detection medium. While accurate measurement of diffracted intensity was not possible, observing the space around reflections was. Initially experiments used flat arrangements of photographic film...
Organic electronics based on organic semiconductors as an active layer have been extensively researched as next-generation electronic devices. To develop the market for organic electronic devices such as integration circuits and sensors, the carrier mobility (hereinafter referred to as the mobility) is an important parameter for device performance and needs to be improved significantly. Additionally, considering applicable organic electronics...
A pole figure (PF) measurement is an X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique employed for the observation of textures in polycrystalline materials in the form of bulk ceramics, metal complex, thin films, etc, or the analysis of the orientation or domain configuration of epitaxial thin films. A comprehensive explanation of pole figures can be found in the technical...
X-ray diffractometry is widely used in R&D and quality control to investigate the crystal structure of materials. It has a diverse range of application, and is used not only for qualitative and quantitative analysis of powder samples, but also to evaluate the aggregate structure of metal materials, analyze the crystal orientation of thin-film samples, and so forth...
Single crystal X-ray structural analysis of proteins includes these steps: expression, crystallization of protein, data collection, phase determination, model building, model fitting, and refinement of the molecular model. When the difficult steps of crystallization and phase determination are overcome, the process of structural analysis can move on to model building and refinement.
Since it is possible to apply zinc to the surface of steel sheet in large quantities, hot-dipped zinc coated steel sheet is used for applications that require long period corrosion resistance, such as automotive bodies, prefab and metal buildings.
Zinc coated steel sheet can be roughly divided into zinc coated...
Simultaneous thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis/differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DTA/DSC) is the method with which changes in both the mass and energy of a sample upon heating can be measured simultaneously.
SmartLab, which was announced as a thin film sample X-ray diffractometer in 2005, is a high-precision goniometer with a high-intensity X-ray source based on an innovative ergonomic design, and is widely used by many users. SmartLab has been updated several times in the 13 years since its launch. This year, an even more sophisticated model of SmartLab was introduced.
X-ray Fluorescence Analysis (XRF) has been used in a wide range of fields as an instrumental analysis method that enables quick and easy elemental analysis. Compared with other methods, sample preparation is simpler and analysis accuracy is higher, and therefore it is not only used for quality control but also for research and development.
X-ray fluorescence analysis is well-known as a non-destructive elemental analysis method. Sample preparation for the XRF technique can be performed quickly and easily, especially for solid samples. A wavelength dispersive type X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (WDXRF) has highly precise performance, so WDXRF is used for sample analysis in process and production control in many manufacturing industries. A sequential type...
The benchtop wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescent spectrometer Supermini200 and its predecessors have been on the market since 2000 and are being used on every continent in the world for research and industrial applications. Since its inception, demands for controlling lower levels of phosphorous (P), sulfur (S) and chlorine (Cl) have been on the rise. To meet these...
