X-ray Analysis

Location & Information

X-ray analysis instruments are located inside the LEXI lab on the first floor of the Calit2 Building in room 1302. For general inquiries and feedback, you can or submit through the Suggestion Portal on the left sidebar. For questions regarding specific techniques or instruments, please contact the lab manager.

Supporting Staff

Dr. Qiyin Lin (Lab Manager)


Two state-of-the-art X-ray diffractometers offer non-destructively characterizing structural properties of materials. A broad range of materials can be measured, including metals, semiconductors, and insulators in forms of powder, bulk, thin films, and liquid solutions. The facility contains two multiple-purpose X-ray diffractometers.

All instruments are open-access to users from on-campus, off-campus academic institutions, and commercial sectors. Usage is billed following standard Recharge Rates. To schedule instrument usage, please go to the IMRI Facility Management System.

To gain access to the instruments, please refer to Become A User for general access information. Once an active IMRI account is established, you can sign-up for instrument training HERE.

We also offer staff-operated testing services to all registered users. To arrange for a test service, please go to Request Testing Service.

X-ray instruments are capable of performing:

  • Powder XRD: phase identification, phase composition and quantification, crystal structure refinement (unit cell size and content), crystallinity, crystallite size, texture, crystal orientation, residual strain/stress, defects, solid solution, doping, and alloy
  • Thin-film XRD including grazing incident measurement
  • High-resolution X-ray diffraction(HRXRD) for epitaxial thin films
  • X-ray reflectivity (XRR) for thin-film layer thickness/structure
  • Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) for nanometer-scale particle size and size distribution analysis on polymers or solutions