X-ray Diffraction - Philips
Philips XRD - No Longer in Use
Training
Shadow other LASE members before continuing with the rest of the XRD training below. New users must complete the following items before they are given system access to perform XRD.
Before the formal on-site XRD training can take place, new users must complete UT's radiation safety training course, OH 306. This course is 3-hours long and is given monthly on Main Campus. New users can sign up for this course through UT's course training network.
After completing OH 306, new users must have Johnny Johnson formally train them. Contact Johnny at johnny@mer.utexas.edu. He typically gives the training session sometime in the mid- to late-afternoon. Training sessions typically last 2 hours.
Reading
Recent Maintenance History of the XRD equipment
Set to XRR by Johnny on 3/17/2016, turned back to XRD by Jesse on 3/23/2016 - Stage alignment seemed off, but was eventually iterated to usability.
Procedures
Trouble shooting
Power Cycling XRD
As of Summer 2017, the XRD will arbitrarily stop recording measured counts during scans. Power cycling the XRD temporarily fixes this issue. It is very important to make sure it is safe to reset the XRD to avoid collisions between different XRD components. If you are unsure about how to do this, ask a senior student.
Turn X-ray generator off
Confirm that the axes in the XRD are not colliding or close to colliding with each other (sometimes this can be the reason for a scan to stop)
Turn off the XRD computer
Press the standby button on the XRD machine and wait for the XRD to go to standby
Press the power button on the XRD machine to restart the XRD
Restart the XRD computer
When prompted by the XRD computer, log in - the password is "user"
Open XRD data collection software. Login (username: user, password: user)
From the top menu, choose instrument --> connect. Choose "user configuration beampath" and make sure that "rocking curves" is selected
When prompted with list of errors, choose "ok"
When prompted "is it safe to reset", choose "yes"
When prompted about offsets, choose "no". This will clear the preset offsets.
The XRD will then reposition the axis to 2theta ~ 11, omega~ 3, etc. Reset all of these values to zero
Generator will be set to 30/10. Bring up to 45/40 (normal scan setting)
Do 2theta scan to check XRD is working, realign XRD