Title: <b>Rietveld Refinement Practical Powder Diffraction Pattern Analysis using TOPAS.</b>By Robert E. Dinnebier, Andreas Leineweber and John S. O. Evans. De Gruyter, 2019. Pp. 331. Price (paperback) EUR 69.95, USD 80.99, GBP 63.50. ISBN 978-3-11-045621-9, e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-046138-1.
Abstract:The powder diffraction method was developed over a century ago (Debye & Scherrer, 1916a,b,c); however, for the first 50 years, its use in science was limited, as it was viewed as information deficient...The powder diffraction method was developed over a century ago (Debye & Scherrer, 1916a,b,c); however, for the first 50 years, its use in science was limited, as it was viewed as information deficient.During data collection, the three-dimensional reciprocal space collapses onto the one-dimensional 2 axis of the powder pattern, causing accidental and systematic peak overlap that reduces the amount of measured information.In 1969, Hugo Rietveld developed a strategy to circumvent this problem by modelling the whole powder pattern with a set of parameters that are refined to minimize the difference between the calculated and experimental data (Rietveld, 1969).This strategy became known as Rietveld refinement and shone a bright new light on the powder diffraction method.Ever since, the method has been used to study the crystal structure, microstructure and local structure of materials, and it provides a valuable alternative to single-crystal diffraction when crystals of suitable size and shape are not available.This book by Dinnebier, Leineweber and Evans is an excellent read about this cornerstone method of crystallography.The authors present the power of the powder diffraction technique with practical examples of data analysis using TOPAS (Coelho, 2018).TOPAS is a robust crystallographic software program that allows for the introduction of user-defined macros, tailor-made for specific data analyses.The authors explain how to use the macro language to extract the maximum amount of structural information from a diffraction pattern.Foremost, I would like to caution the reader not to be misled into believing that the book is a mere manual for the TOPAS software.The book masterfully and methodically covers the most important modern applications of the powder diffraction method.The authors chose to use the scripting language of TOPAS for the examples and case studies; however, I am convinced that the book will also serve users of other software packages and readers interested in the fundamentals of the powder diffraction method.The breadth of scope of the book becomes obvious after just a glance at its contents, which are as follows:Read More