Short Description
X-ray powder diffractometer Bruker D8 ADVANCE, equipped with a CuK(alpha)-ceramic X-ray tube, high-sensitivity LYNXEYE XE-T detector, Göbel mirror, x-y-z sample stage, various slits and collimators, and an automatic sample changer.
DIFFRAC.EVA and DIFFRAC.TOPAS software for qualitatitve and quantitative analyses and crystal-sructure refinements by the Rietveld methods.
Contact Person
Dr. Lidia Pittarello
Research Services
Determination of minerals, gemstones, precious stones, imitations and synthetic gemstones, rocks and meteorites possible on request, depending on various conditions.
Appraisals of gemstones, precious stones, minerals, artefacts (fee applies).
Methods & Expertise for Research Infrastructure
X-ray powder diffraction is a standard method in mineralogy for the qualitative and quantitative determination of the phases present in a powdered sample or a polished solid sample. It is a (usually) non-destructive method, which can also provide detailed information about the atomic structure (crystal structure) of a minerals, rocks and synthetic materials.
With the help of a Göbel mirror, the X-ray powder diffractometer in the department can also be used to investigate artefacts with rough surfaces without prior treatment (e.g. gemstone and precious stone objects, archaeological objects).
The employees of the department of mineralogy and petrography have expertise in the determination of minerals, gemstones, precious stones, rocks, meteorites and synthetic materials with X-ray diffraction methods (powders and single crystals).
Allocation to research infrastructure
Mineralogisch-Petrographische Abteilung, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
- Institute for mineralogy and crystallgraphy, University of Vienna, Austria
- Institute for chemical technologies and analytics, Department of Structural Chemistry, Technical University of Vienna, Austria