Combinatorial materials synthesis is a promising new way of developing and finding novel functional materials. By the use of sophisticated thin film technology, it is possible to create compositionally graded samples on the same single substrate. To analyze this combinatorial library, some novel technique is required. A UK research group led by Professor K. D. Rogers (Cranfield University, UK) recently reported on high-throughput data collection and analysis using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) probe. In the research, an extended X-ray beam was used to illuminate the libraries, and a large area detector was used to collect the data. A new algorithm was employed to analyze the collected data and extract the crystallographic information. For more information, see the paper, "High Throughput X-ray Diffraction Analysis of Combinatorial Polycrystalline Thin Film Libraries", S. Roncallo et al., Anal. Chem., 82, 4564 (2010).
