Rigaku SmartLab 3 multipurpose X-ray diffractometer

Rigaku has released the SmartLab 3 system, a versatile multipurpose X-ray diffractometer with built-in intelligent guidance. The system offers refinement of the features of the original SmartLab: automatic alignment, component recognition, cross-beam optics and a 5-axis goniometer.

Guidance software recognises installed components and seamlessly integrates them into data collection and data analysis methods. The cross-beam optics module offers permanently mounted, permanently aligned and user-selectable optical geometries for various diffraction experiments. One could choose a Bragg-Brentano and parallel beam combination for measurements of both powders and thin films without the need for instrument reconfiguration. One could also choose a Bragg-Brentano and focusing transmission combination to measure organic materials in both transmission and reflection modes.

The fifth, or in-plane, axis of the diffractometer allows the measurement of structures that are in the surface plane of the sample. This enables the measurement of extremely thin films and depth profiling in coatings. The product further extends application capability with the HyPix-400 2-D detector, a hybrid pixel array detector with high resolution and count rates. It is manufactured and fully integrated into the system by Rigaku and, as such, offers ease of use. The SmartLab 3 system configured with a HyPix-400 detector operates in 0-, 1-, and 2-D modes without the need to exchange the detector.